Saara Hyvärinen (b. 1979)

became an artist through various stages of her life. After completing studies at the Liminka Art School, she studied various subjects ranging from studies in human geography to environmental policy. She returned to art only after several years had passed, graduating from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2018. A single-lens reflex camera that she had received from her father while she was in high school led her to photography and before long to video films. Saara also likes to use her hands and to work on different materials. She often combines the process of making her video pieces with the stages of working with her hands. When an idea for a work is born, Saara explores the subject extensively and freely. In the final work, she weaves from a variety of different things an intact yet open entity, where even surprising relationships between things are brought to light and of which many kinds of viewers and people experiencing it can gain a grip. The M_itä? Biennale of Contemporary Art at the Kuopio Art Museum will feature an installation by Saara Hyvärinen that takes as its starting point a meteorite that condenses the unimaginable proportions of time and space.

Photos: Harri Heinonen