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Current and upcoming exhibitions

7.6.2025 – 31.8.2025
Kallioilla – Site-specific environment art event, Vuosnainen, Kustavi, FI

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I am super happy and excited to be included in thi

I am super happy and excited to be included in this year’s Kallioilla (literally on the rocks 😀 @spaunankallioilla ) site specific environment art event in Vuosnainen, Kustavi on the west coast of Finland.
I have been slowly turning more and more towards land art and this is the first curated exhibition I have now been chosen to be part of (Land Jewelry is a land art project event that I myself organized with my colleague Maja in 2021 so that was a bit different). This time, there is a bit more pressure to make “something proper”, whatever that may be, so I am a bit nervous but ultimately really eager to start. I will be spending the whole next week on those rocks of the event’s title to create something with the landscape and materials I will find there
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#landart #sitespecific #environmentalart #landjewelry #upcoming #openairart #openairexhibition #finnishwestcoast #maataide

Needlebound 4 Brooch, 2025 Drop spindle spun and n

Needlebound 4
Brooch, 2025
Drop spindle spun and nålebound plastics bags
Mechanism stainless steel
10 x 9,5 x 5cm
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Don’t have a video of this yet, so the last picture is just to visualize the scale a little better.
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#madefromwhat #plasticbags #upcyclingplastic #contemporaryjewelry #jewelryart #ancienttechniques #nålebinding #LowWasteArtist #AnthropoceneArtifacts #ContemporaryCraft

The exhibition Aistinvarainen - On Senses is for j

The exhibition Aistinvarainen - On Senses is for just two more weeks, until the 27th of April, at the Craft Museum of Finland in Jyväskylä! So if you’re around there, have a look (and touch) at art that can be experienced with more than just your sense of sight!

Also to be experienced there:
Consumption
neckpiece/sculpture, 2023
recycled plastic bags
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@artistsory @suomenkasityonmuseo
#madefromwhat #plasticbags #contemporaryjewelry #contemporarycraft #sculpture #WearableArt #wearablesculpture #touchableart #pleasetouchtheart #wearingart

Has it been over 6 months already that the Minun M

Has it been over 6 months already that the Minun Maailma II exhibition opened at the The Finnish Museum of Horology and Jewellery Kruunu?! Turns out yes! So please do visit the museum before the 27th of this month if you want to see jewelry made based on the experience of immigrant women in Finland!

One Yes
object/wearable sculpture
Recycyled plastic bags, wood, thread
~12 x 10 x 8cm
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@museokruunu
#madefromwhat #plasticbags #upcyclingplastic #Plasticbasketry #ChooseToReuse #LowWasteArt #breadbags #coiling #coiledbasketry #jewelryart #contemporaryjewelry #ContemporaryCraft #minunmaailmaniII #immigration #immigrationstories #contemporarybasketry

Needlebound 3 Brooch, 2024 Drop spindle spun and n

Needlebound 3
Brooch, 2024
Drop spindle spun and nålebound plastics bags
Mechanism stainless steel
~8 x 8,5 x 6cm
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#madefromwhat #plasticbags #upcyclingplastic #contemporaryjewelry #jewelryart #ancienttechniques #nålebinding #LowWasteArtist #AnthropoceneArtifacts #ContemporaryCraft

Needlebound 2 Brooch, 2024 Drop spindle spun and n

Needlebound 2
Brooch, 2024
Drop spindle spun and nålebound plastics bags
Mechanism stainless steel
9 x 8,5 x 5cm
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#madefromwhat #plasticbags #upcyclingplastic #contemporaryjewelry #jewelryart #ancienttechniques #nålebinding #LowWasteArtist #AnthropoceneArtifacts #ContemporaryCraft

Needlebound 1 Brooch, 2024 Drop spindle spun and n

Needlebound 1
Brooch, 2024
Drop spindle spun and nålebound plastics bags
Mechanism stainless steel
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#madefromwhat #plasticbags #upcyclingplastic #contemporaryjewelry #jewelryart #ancienttechniques #nålebinding #LowWasteArtist #AnthropoceneArtifacts #ContemporaryCraft

So, continuation from the previous Nålebinding po

So, continuation from the previous Nålebinding post!
I had taught myself to do basic nålebinding quite some years ago using just normal textile thread and I really liked it. So obviously, when I started out researching old textile techniques for working with plastic bags I knew I wanted to try out nålebinding in that capacity, too.

The first tries were not great though. I didn’t like how “puffy” the tests looked when made with just strips of plastic bags. Twisting them tighter helped a bit but still wasn't quite what I wanted. The tests looked more interesting when I melted the resulting structure with hot air afterwards, but having to melt plastic (and being exposed to the potential harms of that) was something I really wanted to avoid in the future. But then along came something that was originally a failure turned out to be the solution here:
plastic strips “slipping” and turning into very thin thread when twisted with a drop spindle (detailed further in my post about spinning). These thin plastic threads worked quite well in nålebinding and I could go on testing and refining the technique and getting results that felt much more interesting to me.

The spun plastic threads are indeed really thin though, and at least right now I can’t really see how to get them thicker and therefore be able to scale up the size of the pieces that way. I have started working with different ways of alternating networks of tighter loops with a “filling” of looser loops and think I’ll find some ways to make some bigger things in the future! 🤩
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#textilehistory #ancienthistory #ancienttechniques #revivinghistory #finnishtechniques #nalebinding #neulakinnastekniikka #livinghistory #madefromwhat #plasticbags #upcyclingplasticbags

Let’s finally talk about nålbinding! The word

Let’s finally talk about nålbinding!

The word comes from the Danish and Norwegian language and translated directly it would be ‘needle-binding’ in English.The word comes from the Danish and Norwegian languages and translated directly it would be 'needle-binding' in English. It is one of the oldest textile techniques, much older than knitting or crochet, where a single strand of thread is looped through itself with a blunt needle. The oldest archaeological find seems to be a fragment from 6500 BCE from Nahal Hemar in Israel, while the oldest European fragment is from 4200 BCE from Tybrind Vig, Denmark. But the most famous artifacts are probably the red toe socks from Egypt, often falsely labelled as knitting, and a Beret from the Tarim Basin, China.

In Finnish the technique is called ‘neulakinnastekniikka’ which basically means “technique to make a mitten with a needle”, referring to the item supposedly predominantly made using it. I find the term cumbersome and a bit weird, as it has also been used for making for example milk sieves and socks, but obviously the Finns of history don’t care about my opinion…
One of my favourite artifacts in the Finnish National Museum is a tiny fragment of nålbinding from between 800-1500 AD. It’s the first image of this post and you can see the structure quite well there (picture from finna.fi).

The technique has prevailed in Finland (and the European North in general) to this day and is having a bit of a revival recently. I learned the basics of it with wool a few years ago and knew I really wanted to include it when I started researching traditional handicraft techniques in Finland last year, in order to adapt them to plastic bags. One of my main sources for it was (and still is) a page called neulakintaat.fi (there’s also an English version) which I would greatly recommend to anybody interested in this. It has a lot of resources on different ways to start out as well as lots of different stitches.

I’ll go on telling more about how I learned and adapted it in another post!
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#textilehistory #ancienthistory #ancienttechniques #revivinghistory #finnishtechniques #nalebinding #neulakinnastekniikka #livinghistory

Munich Jewelry Week is more or less in full swing

Munich Jewelry Week is more or less in full swing by now I would guess (I am not there myself, alas 😔) and apart from Fertile Ground I have the honor to be included in another exhibition as well: Shining Despair organized by Alliages and now shown in Munich!

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It is clear to all of us that the degree of the current chaos in the world is caused by our own actions, creating internal as well as external conflicts. We all suffer. The texture, characteristics, and significance of our suffering are more or less known to us, we try to get rid of them. Always with limited success. Some sort of pain and suffering are too overwhelming and cause a feeling of helplessness and a state of mind that we can either transform or accept as it is.

But we artists have a unique opportunity; with our craftsmanship and its requirements and the various materials and substances that are in front of us, we can take out the texture of our despair and transform it, following the call for life and creating luminous objects, – giving birth to a shining jewelry piece, with all its beauty and grace, a silent witness to our despair.
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Exhibition place : Werkstatt-galerie, Zentnerstrasse 3 (Metro Josephsplatz, U2)
Exhibition dates : March 12-15th
Exhibition hours : Wed 12th to Fri 14th (13h to 18h30), Sat 15th (10h to 12h)
Opening : Wednesday March 12th 18h30 to 20h30
#21 in the map & official program

Included from me is Bread Basket 5/biod., my Enjoia't Award winning brooch (wow that still feels weird to say 😅) made entirely from plastic bags labelled biodegradable (well, exempting the brooch mechanism which is stainless steel).
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@alliages_asso #alliages #contemporaryjewellery #contemporaryart #schmuck #joya #bijou #munich #madefromwhat #plasticbags #coiling #ancientmodern

Spent two days at the start of the week helping to

Spent two days at the start of the week helping to build the yearly art sale at Cable Factory organized, as always, be the Jewelry Art Association!
It'll open on Friday and then be open until the 16th! Come see (and, if you like, purchase) some beautiful jewelry, and also some things that you might not define as jewelry 😁
I'll have a wall hanging and other wall pieces but also some brooches there. All, as always, made from old plastic bags.
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@korutaideyhdistys #madefromwhat #plasticbags #weaving #contemporarycraft #contemporaryjewelry #tuohi #artsale #salesexhibition #kaapelitehdas

When the open call for this appeared last year I k

When the open call for this appeared last year I knew I really, really wanted to be part of it, and, luckily, now I am!

From the exhibition statement:
“This exhibition examines the intersection of making and care, reflecting on themes of motherhood, fertility, nature, and the choices surrounding them. Fertile Ground invites visitors to explore how nurturing—whether of life, ideas, or art—shapes both personal and artistic expression.”

While I think motherhood is a wonderful thing, it is also not the only thing women (and mothers for that matter) are capable of. For myself, nurturing has always been more focused on caring for a material and for a craft - I have never seen myself as a mother, but always as a maker...

Fertile Ground exhibition is opening next week in Munich and will be open not only for Munich Jewelry Week, but for the whole month! If you’re around for the event, please visit Donner wie Blitz <3

Thank you so much Clodagh Molloy @clodagh.molloy for organizing the event!

Three of my Needle-bound brooches, made from drop spindle spun plastic bags, and worked with the ancient technique of nålbinding, are part of the exhibition.
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#FertileGroundExhibition #MunichJewelleryWeek #Schmuck2025 #JewelleryArt #ContemporaryJewellery #Sculpture #BodyAdornment #ArtandMotherhood #CreationandCare #madefromwhat #plasticbags #contemporarycraft #nurturingcraft

Two small brooches, made from drop spindle spun pl

Two small brooches, made from drop spindle spun plastic bags (and wood and stainless steel).
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#dropspindle #spunplasticthread #spunfromplastic #madefromwhat #plasticbags #spinning #plarn #upcycling #contemporaryjewelry #materialresearch

This came about on quite short notice but I'm very

This came about on quite short notice but I'm very happy to invite you to the opening of Textures of Time next Tuesday at 6pm/18:00 at gallery GAoShAn, Snellmaninkatu 15!
There will be some new work of mine, but also beautiful pieces by textile artist Raija Jokinen as well as some older works by Finnish artists/designers going back to the 1950's.
The second pictures gives just a little glimpse of a bit of texture from a piece finished just this week 😁
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#TexturesOfTime #FinnishArt #JewelryAndTextile #gaoshanhelsinki #maijalavonen #irmakukkasjärvi #raijajokinen #finnishtextile #wiebkepandikow #contemporarycraft #contemporarytextile #contemporaryjewellery #contemporarybasketry #needlebinding #nålbinding

And one more similar to, but in a slightly differe

And one more similar to, but in a slightly different birch bark weaving technique than the light blue/green one

Brooch, 2024
Plastic bags, pigment, mechanism from stainless steel
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#madefromwhat #plasticbags #fusedplasticbags #weaving #ancienttechniques #traditionaltechniques #traditionalcraft #oldcraftnewmaterial #finnishcraft #plasticweaving #pillow #materialresearch #birchbarktechniqes #suorapunonta #tuohityöt

Three weeks ago the Aistinvarainen (On Senses) exh

Three weeks ago the Aistinvarainen (On Senses) exhibition opened at the Craft Museum of Finland in Jyväskylä, where all the pieces in the exhibition can be touched. It really left quite an impression to feel the artwork and I wanted to just give a few glimpses of some of my favourites. And there's so many more! It's really worth a trip if you’re in Finland

Details of works of:
1 Melissa Sammalvaara @melissasammalvaara
2 Elli Hukka @ellihukka
3 Tuuli Autio @tuuli_autio
4 Minja Kolehmainen @minjakolehmainen
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@suomenkasityonmuseo @artistsory
#taiteenedistämiskeskus #suomenkäsityönmuseo #taiteilijato #aistinvarainen #onsenses #arttotouch #pleasetouch #artexhibition #touchableart #tuuliautio #ellihukka #melissasammalvaara #minjakolehmainen

Before Christmas I was talking about pieces made b

Before Christmas I was talking about pieces made by using techniques from birch bark weaving but using recycled plastic bags - here another one!

Still searching for a good name for these, so as of yet untitled

Brooch, 2024
Plastic bags, pigment, mechanism from stainless steel
75 x 75 x 20mm
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#madefromwhat #plasticbags #fusedplasticbags #diagonalweaving #ancienttechniques #traditionaltechniques #traditionalcraft #oldcraftnewmaterial #finnishcraft #plasticweaving #materialresearch #birchbarktechniqes #suorapunonta #vinopunonta

Another new beginning... It’s so good to be bac

Another new beginning...
It’s so good to be back at my work table after being away for quite a while. First for the holidays and then to help build a bigger exhibition.
It feels peaceful to just have my hands working again, the strings running through my fingers, the needle running through loops….
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#workinprogress #plasticstring #spunfromplastic #madefromwhat #plasticbags #needlebinding #nalbinding #contamporarycraft #contemporaryjewelry #whileworking #handicraft #upcycling

I am very happy to start the year with the opening

I am very happy to start the year with the opening of Aistinvarainen (On senses) next week, organized by Artists O association (@artistsory). It’s an exhibition at the Craft Museum of Finland in Jyväskylä, in which the visitors are allowed to touch all pieces exhibited - I love the concept and was very happy when an older piece of mine was accepted for it last spring!
I will be there for the opening on Friday the 10th, from 17-19 in the evening and afterwards the exhibition will be open until the 27th of April. The Craft museum of Finland is usually open from Tuesdays to Sundays from 11 to 18.

In the exhibition there are 17 artists, in addition to myself: Tuuli Autio, Elli Hukka, Sirpa Hannele Heinonen, Niina Hiltunen, Leena Juvonen, Teemu Järvi, Minja Kolehmainen, Laura Merz, Mirja Niemelä, Wiebke Pandikow, Laura Pehkonen, Johanna Pöykkö, Piia Rossi, Melissa Sammalvaara, Ulla Sinkkonen, Päivi Vaarula and Jana Vyborna-Turunen.

Come see and TOUCH! our work 🤩
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#taiteenedistämiskeskus #suomenkäsityönmuseo #museovirasto #suomenkäsityönmuseo #taiteilijato @kulttuurikaupunkijyvaskyla #aistinvarainen #onsenses #arttotouch #pleasetouch
#tuuliautio #ellihukka #sirpahanneleheinonen #niinahiltunentextiles #leenajuvonen #teemujärviillustrations #teemujärvi #minjakolehmainen #lauramerz #wiebkepandikow #laurapehkonen #johannapoykko #piiarossi #melissasammalvaara #ullasinkkonen #päivivaarula #janavybornaturunen

These started out as tests, but then I quite liked

These started out as tests, but then I quite liked them so made them into small wall pieces in the end. Each is about 13cm square.
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#madefromwhat #plasticbags #fusedplasticbags #diagonalweaving #ancienttechniques #traditionaltechniques #traditionalcraft #oldcraftnewmaterial #finnishcraft #plasticweaving #materialresearch #birchbarktechniqes #suorapunonta #vinopunonta

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