Shadowland - Kuvataidetalo

About the Exhibition

Shadowland is an exhibition featuring three distinct installations of ceramic sculptures that explore themes of the subterranean landscape, impermanence, and loss. The organic forms of the works draw inspiration from pristine nature and the ocean floor, with some pieces crafted using traditional Raku techniques.

Shadows are present in the exhibition, notably in the patterns found on the Raku ceramics, which resemble the shadows of waves on the seabed. Working with Raku techniques can feel also akin to walking in a land of shadows, where uncertainty and chance reign. The process of firing large ceramic sculptures is inherently unpredictable: there is always the risk of breakage, and each firing yields a result that is never quite the same as the last.

The dark surface patterns of the sculptures are formed as smoke penetrates the cracks in the clay crust applied to the sculpture’s surface. After the piece cools, the crust is removed. Each work is unique as the Raku firing ensures that no two results are ever the same. The matte glossy surface, achieved by the sculpting techniques, invites touch – also evoking the feel of stones smoothed by the constant ebb and flow of the sea.

The ceramic sculptures in the exhibition have been made during 2022-2024 by hand, casting, and compression moulding.

Artist’s work and the exhibition have been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland and the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Southwest Finland Fund.

The Finnish Heritage Agency has supported the payment of artist’s exhibition fee.

Umppa Niinivaara

Umppa Niinivaara (b. 1970, Helsinki) lives and works in Karuna. She graduated as a fine artist from the Turku School of Fine Arts in 1997 and as a Master of Arts from Winchester School of Art in 2009.

About the artist