Teno

2023, Finnish Earthenware, Makkaratechnikka (Coiling technique) + wild kaolin slip painting + sgraffito decoration

Exhibitions

Species, curated by Maarit Mäkelä and Outi Turpeinen, Marsio Space, Espoo (Finland), 2025, group exhibition

Soil Laboratory – Exploring the Dialogue between Humans and the Earth in Utsjoki / Maalaboratorio – ihmisen ja maan välistä dialogia tutkimassa Utsjoella - Galleria Kellokas, Äkäslompolo, Lapland (Finland), 2026, group exhibition

Links

https://www.lapintaiteilijaseura.fi/events/maalaboratorio/

https://www.aalto.fi/en/news/soil-laboratory-one-solar-cycle-in-utsjoki

https://empirica.aalto.fi/news/exploring-a-dialog-between-human-and-land-in-utsjoki?rq=utsjoki

https://workingwithsoil.aalto.fi/artistic-research-project-on-local-espoo-soil/

https://www.maaritmakela.com/activity/

Teno illustrates the aquatic ecosystems of rivers, streams, and rapids in the northernmost part of Finland. Its surface functions as a hydrographic map, tracing major rivers of the Lapland region such as the Inarijoki, Utsjoki, Lemmenjoki, and Teno. Engraved around them is a collection of animals, insects, mushrooms, and algae that live symbiotically in and with this ecosystem. As documented by the Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility (laji.fi), many of these species are now considered endangered. The vessel is coiled using Somero earthenware sourced from southern Finland, and decorated with slips and gathered kaolin soil from Puolanka, in central Finland.

In early May 2023, together with the Soil Laboratory research group, Teno travelled through and was immersed in rivers near Utsjoki, Lapland. The vessel functioned as a prototype, aimed at understanding the entanglement of different species and, in doing so, moving toward a deeper awareness of ecological interconnections.

Soil Laboratory, co-led by Maarit Mäkelä and Riikka Latva-Somppi, undertaken by the Empirica research group, Aalto University, explores the relationships between humans, water, and earth as a living landscape. The project challenges the Western tendency to regard the earth merely as a resource to be exploited, instead proposing experiential ways of understanding land as a holistic, living agent. Soil is approached as a material mediator through which the entangled relationships between humans and the environment can unfold. The working methods draw on ceramic traditions alongside a diversity of experimental practices, bringing together artists, designers, craftspeople, researchers, and local human and non-human actors.