I have harboured an ancient fascination with the magic, playfulness and aesthetic curiosity of finnish folk art. So of course I was delighted to discoverSanna Annukka.
She is half Finnish, half English,
and is heavily inspired by her dreamy childhood in Finland,
in which she explored the forests of Paltaniemi,
and loved to swim and fish in Oulujarvi.
She has even wandered the wild, Arctic lands of Lapland!Recently, she illustrated the Kalevala,
which is a magical collection of Finnish songs of folklore.
I love the bold colors and lines in her craftily stylized collection of icons.
I have lately been shying away from bold colors,
but hopefully she will help me overcome my shyness and indulge such vibrant strokes! :)
3 comments:
Anyone else noticing how incredibly similar these are to Maori AND Inuit designs? I mean Shaina probably knows better than I do about the Maori stuff but as far as I'm concerned, there's really a huge commonality, for instance in the way they do "additive" rather than "subtractive" drawing--the white spaces are "subtracted" from the figure, rather than being drawn in as blobs. That gives the positive or colored area around it--the lines--a fluid, rounded character. Really nice, that way of doing it--reminds me of Antonio Gaudi's wavey buildings.
yes- empty space as line..
considering ingigenous designs for me has become such a habit that there seems to be this underlying aesthetic that is either predominated by curves or more angular lines..
these designs do remind me of the things of the pacific. i love when geographic distinction is blurred because of the reality that we all see such similar shapes in nature- we share a range of color- though some languages speak about it and describe color differently.
what i mean by either curve or angular lines is somewhat dependant on medium-- for example, beadwork and fabric, because of their woven nature, generally produce more gridlike, triangular/angular designs, with lines and such. whereas painted, carved or otherwise produced mediums usually engage the creator to indulge in forming curves sand twists and graceful arches.
not always, but as far as decorative motifs go.. the mayans did it, the maori, the tlinget of alaska.. i could study these things for the whole of my life and not be finished. :)
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