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Current and upcoming exhibitions

26.1. – 26.2.2023
Still Garden, solo exhibition, GAo ShAn, Korkeavuorenkatu 5, Helsinki

13.5.2022 – 23.1.023
Consume By, Museum Arnhem, Netherlands

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wpandikow

I'll be at the gallery on Saturday the 11th from n

I'll be at the gallery on Saturday the 11th from noom until 6pm! Welcome 🌱
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#meetthemaker @gaoshanhelsinki

~continued from last post~ A herbarium is a colle

~continued from last post~

A herbarium is a collection of dried plants, generally for research and study. Armed with the freedom to focus on artistic work and a much better soldering iron I got after my grandpa's broke down, I was able to create the first pieces of my own, decidedly more artificial collection.

I added Hedera (ivy leaf shaped) and Aponogeton (long and wavy-edged) to the round and triangular leaves I had already developed in the Nasturtium and Perfoliata necklaces, the leaf shapes of which would now become the base for the Tropaeolum and Fallopia series. As you might guess, I've taken a lot of freedom with those terms, there are in fact a lot of different looking plants in those botanical genera.

These first pieces seem so thin and frail to me now. Pale and delicate, like the ghosts of plants...

While my technique has changed a bit over time and the newer pieces are made from thicker material, I'm happy to say the old ones continue to hold up well, at least the ones still in my possession and especially now that they come mounted in boxes.

No boxes in May of 2015 yet though, in my first solo exhibition.

(to be continued)
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Picture 1 is of 'leaf hexagon', a brooch now on display at @gaoshanhelsinki. It's about 13cm in diameter and you probably already guessed what it's made of. Mechanism from stainless steel.
Picture 2 is the first necklace of the Hedera series with ivy inspired leaves, made in 2015 and
Picture 3, also 2015, is of the first piece from the Aponogeton series, with leaves inspired by water plants like for example Aponogeton crispus
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#backgroundstory #blastfromthepast #contemporaryjewelry #contemporarycraft #artistbackground #plastic #plasticbags #madefromwhat #artinsights #leaves #leafnecklace #aponogeton #hedera

~continued from last post~ I had finally found th

~continued from last post~

I had finally found the technique I really wanted to work with, improve and expand on, get better at. This felt unique and promised lots of possibilities. But, as so often in life, there was the question of finances.

I enjoyed making silver jewelry but the marketing and selling of it - not so much. And it showed in my barely existent income. Of course I knew about the bigger art grant organizations in Finland, but I felt mostly intimidated by them and like not enough of an artist to apply. That summer though (2014), there was a 'Finnish Jewelry Art seminar' organized by the Finnish Jewelry Art Association that I had just become a member of. I helped with the project and also presented Nasturtium (see previous post) to the international guests that visited. Completely unexpectedly, Nasturtium sold to a collector from the US. Encouraged by that, the coming autumn I applied for an artist working grant from SKR, the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

Their decision is sent to the applicants the following February. I saw the mail in my inbox and laughed it off, about to just close what I thought would be a rejection. Then I read it again and started crying as well.
I'd got it.

Over the next half year, Herbarium would be born.

(to be continued)
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Picture 1: This necklace from the Aponogeton series can be seen now at my 'Still Garden' solo exhibition at GAoShAn (@gaoshanhelsinki). Made in 2020 from plastic bags and wood.
Picture 2: Perfoliata, the second leaf-necklace after Nasturtium, made at the very end of 2014 (guess what it's made of)
Picture 3: Perfoliata was even featured on the cover of SKR's annual report that year!
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Korutaideyhdistys ry Suomen Kulttuurirahasto
#backgroundstory #blastfromthepast #contemporaryjewelry #contemporarycraft #artistbackground #plastic #plasticbags #madefromwhat #artinsight #leaves #leafnecklace #perfoliata

~continued from last post~ Not yet satisfied with

~continued from last post~

Not yet satisfied with what I had discovered about how to work with plastic bags I wanted to try and use a different tool. Another heat source, like, say, a soldering iron. And my grandpa in Germany dug up a truly ancient one from his workshop for me. A big and clunky thing with a broad and dirty tip and no way to regulate the temperature. It might even have had a wooden handle. I set to work with it and I think it lasted for less than a month before it gave out. But those few weeks may have been the most important in my time working with this material.

While most plastic bags didn't react well to the soldering iron, sticking to it then smoking and burning off (I started to take better care of better ventilation then!), a certain kind did work out: flimsy, translucent bags usually used for loose fresh produce in grocery stores. If first fused into a thin sheet with the clothes iron and then only in contact with the hot soldering iron very shortly, I could shape the plastic quite nicely and also merge non-flat pieces, creating three-dimensional, organic shapes. The result looked more like ice, or the calcium shells of corals – not plastic. Finally!
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(next: getting a grant)
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Picture 1: And one more from the opening of 'Still Garden @gaoshanhelsinki, image rights with GAoShAn
Picture 2 shows Tideroot brooches 1-3, the first actual pieces made utilizing a soldering iron and the technique I would work with for most of the next 10 years
Picture 3 shows the first plant leaf inspired work I made with that technique, the Nasturtium necklace.
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#backgroundstory #blastfromthepast #exhibitionopening #contemporaryjewelry #artistbackground #plastic #plasticbags #madefromwhat #techniqueinsight #artinsight #leaves #coral

~continued from last post~ As I'm far from the on

~continued from last post~

As I'm far from the only artist working with plastics, I knew that to create something unique I would need to do a lot of testing. Around that time I was skimming through a book that mentioned the fusing of plastic bags with a clothes iron and that sounded like as good a place to start as any.

Fusing them into an unbroken, smooth sheets was... nice, but a bit boring.
But applying a little too much heat and seeing them melt, pucker, wrinkle, stretch, tear, split – that opened some kind of floodgate of weird ideas. I had very random, frantic and most of all fun weeks playing around (alongside making actual silver jewelry series for my just established trade name, which felt quite boring in comparison). Don't ask about proper ventilation, not to mention any kind of mask at that point (I got more careful not much later).

Net-like structures interested me most then and I worked with that a bit. I look back at those pieces (the one from the previous post and especially the two here) and I'm actually pretty fond of them now. But then it still felt as if I hadn't gone far enough. The technique was still too simple, the material still too easily recognizable as plastic.

~next: my grandpa's old soldering iron~
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The book I mentioned is 'Remake it – Clothes' by Henrietta Thompson and I recommend it. Really cool upcycling ideas for clothes!

Picture 1 is the 'Still Garden' opening @gaoshanhelsinki and the little garden of bouquets on the window sill (I have the best friends <3), image rights with GAoShAn
Picture 2: Whisper, necklace, plastic bags, 2014
Picture 3: AA, brooch from an Alko plastic bag, 2014 (what a cool model, eh? Oh so awkward 🤣🙈)
Soo much thanks to my father-in-law putting up with me then and taking those photos!💚
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#backgroundstory #blastfromthepast #exhibitionopening #contemporaryjewelry #artistbackground #plastic #plasticbags #madefromwhat #net #meltingplastic

As my new solo exhibition is running at GAo ShAn g

As my new solo exhibition is running at GAo ShAn gallery right now, I thought it might be a good moment to explain in some more detail over the next few posts when, why and how I started working with discarded plastics. Its been a while and may take a while!

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I started to become interested in plastics (or rather plastic waste) 10 years ago, right at the end of my jewelry design studies in 2013. I can't even say why, exactly. It just felt like a challenge I wanted to take on. There was this material that has the potential to be terribly damaging to the environment and possibly the human body (bisphenol-A & co were getting pretty well known by then) but can nontheless be found everywhere. Ubiquitous not only in actual use in everyday life, but also thoughtlessly discarded in the environment. I wanted to use this stuff somehow, to prove some kind of point I wasn't even sure about then. To make something out of it, transform it so thoroughly that people wouldn't recognize it anymore.

So I started experimenting with it.

~
(To be continued!)
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Picture 1 is of me talking at the opening last Thursday at the gallery, image rights with GAoShAn
Picture 2 is of 'Water', from 2013, one of the first pieces I ever made from plastic bags, as exhibited in 2014 at Kuusisto Art Manor in Kaarina, FI
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@gaoshanhelsinki
#backgroundstory #opening #exhibitionopening #gaoshan #jewelryexhibition #contemporaryjewelry #jewelrygallery #artistbackground #plastic #plasticbags #madefromwhat

Uusi näyttely 'Still Garden' muuttaa ajattelematt

Uusi näyttely 'Still Garden' muuttaa ajattelemattomasti hylätyt materiaalit innovatiivisesti koruiksi ja kyseenalaistaa arvon käsitteen. Taiteilija Wiebke Pandikowin teoksia esittelevä yksityisnäyttely avautuu 26.1. klo 18 Helsingissä, GAo ShAn -galleriassa, osoitteessa Korkeavuorenkatu 5. Yleisö voi vierailla näyttelyssä maksutta keskiviikosta sunnuntaihin klo 12–18 helmikuun 26. päivään asti.

Wiebke Pandikow on työskennellyt muovipussien parissa vuodesta 2014 lähtien. Hän on kehittänyt menetelmiä materiaalin työstämiseen silitysrautaa ja juotoskolvia käyttäen. Pandikow esittää ajattelemattomasti hylätyn materiaalin nykykorun kontekstissa ja kyseenalaistaa samalla arvon merkityksen.

Maailmassa, joka on vaikeiden siirtymien keskellä, Pandikow rohkaisee katsojaa näkemään jätemateriaalin eri näkökulmasta. Hän rohkaisee näkemään mahdollisuuksia ja kauneutta muutoksessa. Löytämään nautintoa hyötymällä sitä, mikä löytyy läheltä.

Vuonna 2019 Pandikowin ensimmäinen yksityisnäyttely GAo ShAnissa esitteli töitä, jotka oli valmistettu vain läpikuultavista muovipusseista. Nyt värien rooli on keskeinen. Uusi kehitys alkoi vuonna 2017 teoksilla, jotka hyödynsivät Suomen talvisilta teiltä kerätyn soran hillittyjä sävyjä. Viime vuosina prosessi on huipentunut kirkkaisiin teoksiin, joissa on käytetty sekä värillisiä pusseja että pigmenttejä.

Suomen talven pimeyden ja kylmyyden keskellä näyttely kutsuu katsojan pieneen, hiljaiseen puutarhaan. Siellä on värien mukaan järjestettyjä pieniä kiviä kuin sorapolkuja. Puupaloja, joiden päältä löytyy outoja kasvustoja kuin jäkälää tai sammalta. Ja paljon värikkäitä lehtiä, jotka kurkottavat vaaleista oksista. Pienet korit kuin odottavat kukkia tai marjoja.

Gao Shan
Korkeavuorenkatu 5
00150 Helsinki
Auki ke-su klo 12–18
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@gaoshanhelsinki
@wpandikow
#gaoshanhelsinki #contemporaryjewelry #contemporaryjewellery #jewelry #finnishjewelry #scandinavianjewelry #schmuck #sculptureart #craftart #finnishart #artjewlery #exhibition #wearablesculpture #wearableart #craftjewelry #sustainability #art #contemporarycraft #wasteart #madefromwhat #plasticbags

Welcome to my new solo exhibition opening next wee

Welcome to my new solo exhibition opening next week Thursday at gallery GAo ShAn in Helsinki!

Check previous post for English text and the following post for Finnish text 😀

This piece will of course be part of it:
Tropaeolum Chroma
necklace, 2022
plastic bags, pigment, wood
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@gaoshanhelsinki
@wpandikow
#gaoshanhelsinki #contemporaryjewelry #contemporaryjewellery #jewelry #finnishjewelry #scandinavianjewelry #schmuck #sculptureart #craftart #finnishart #artjewlery #exhibition #wearablesculpture #wearableart #craftjewelry #sustainability #art #contemporarycraft #wasteart #madefromwhat #plasticbags

The new exhibition ‘Still Garden' innovatively t

The new exhibition ‘Still Garden' innovatively turns thoughtlessly discarded materials into jewelry while questioning the concept of value. The solo exhibition displaying artist Wiebke Pandikow’s works opens in Helsinki, at GAo ShAn gallery, Korkeavuorenkatu 5, on January 26 at 18:00. The public can visit free of charge from Wednesday to Sunday 12:00 to 18:00 until 26 February.

The exhibiting artist Wiebke Pandikow has worked with plastic bags since 2014, developing techniques to work with the material utilizing a flat irons and soldering irons. Pandikow presents a thoughtlessly discarded material in the context of contemporary jewelry, questioning the meaning of value.

In a world in the midst of difficult transitions, Pandikow encourages the viewer to perceive a waste material from a different viewpoint. To see possibility and beauty in change, to find resilience and enjoyment in making do with what we can find close at hand, sometimes directly under our feet.

Pandikow first exhibited solo at GAo ShAn in 2019 with pieces made only from translucent plastic bags. Now color is in the focus. The new development started tentatively in 2017 with pieces utilizing the subdued tones of gravel collected from Finnish winter roads. Over the last years the new approach has culminated in bright pieces incorporating colored bags as well as pigments.

In the midst of the dark and cold of Finnish winter, the exhibition invites the viewer into a small, quiet garden. There are tiny stones arranged by color, like a miniature gravel path, pieces of wood with strange growths like lichen or moss, and many colorful leaves reaching from pale branches. Small baskets seem to await flowers or berries.

GAo ShAn gallery
Korkeavuorenkatu 5
00150 Helsinki
Open Wed-Sun 12 pm to 6 pm
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@gaoshanhelsinki
@wpandikow
#gaoshanhelsinki #contemporaryjewelry #contemporaryjewellery #jewelry #finnishjewelry #scandinavianjewelry #schmuck #sculptureart #craftart #finnishart #artjewlery #exhibition #wearablesculpture #wearableart #craftjewelry #sustainability #art #contemporarycraft #wasteart #madefromwhat #plasticbags

I became interested in basketry when starting to g

I became interested in basketry when starting to get acquainted with very basic textile techniques. I wanted to get to know my environment better, especially the plants in it and how to interact with them. Simple things one can do with plant fibers without any tools (and probably all of us have done at some point with blades of
grass) is twisting them together, looping them, interlacing/braiding
them. These very basic techniques are what make up the first textiles and baskets and they can be found in the archeological records all over the world.
I love the ancientness and simple universality of this: since there
have been people gathering things, wherever in the world, they - we - have twisted and looped and braided together containers to keep and transport those gathered things in. It's deeply human.
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#basketry #workinprogress #madefromwhat
#plasticbags #upcyclingplastic #plarn #basketweaving #recycling
#recyclingart #wasteart #contemporarycraft

Taken on a beautiful morning last month. Working w

Taken on a beautiful morning last month. Working with a new theme and techniques, I now see beautiful baskets everywhere 🤎
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#photography #closeup #driedplant #winter #snowcovered #icecrystals #wintermeadow #backlight #morninglight #frozen #naturalbasket

A new year, a new series, a table in new chaos!

A new year, a new series, a table in new chaos!

At the end of last year I slowly began focusing on a new theme, mostly in general research and testing and practising basic techniques. Now I'm finally focusing on actual new pieces.

I've been fascinated by traditional crafts since forever (it feels like) and now I've started to concentrate on one of the most ancient and universal ones: basketry.

I'm excited to learn new things and excited where this will lead!
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#worktable #creativechaos #testingtechniques #workinprogress #plasticbags #plarn #upcycling #basketry #contemporarycraft #inthemaking #lowwasteartist

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