Welcome to the opening on Friday 3.2. at 5-7 pm
Artist meeting on Sunday 26.2. from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m

“Different myceliums, branches and networks have interested me for a long time. The root paintings started in 2020 when I designed works for the RÖNSY summer exhibition in Ars-Häme. The first works related to the subject were exhibited there.

Working with the roots has been a very tangible way of being with your fingers in the soil. When digging the ground, changing the soil in a flower pot, the eye observes different shapes and networks. The roots of different plants intertwine. The strongest roots go through a bulb or tuber, for example, to get where they want. Thin roots bind even large rocks together.

Through roots, I’ve been thinking a lot about growth and connections in general. Roots are essential and support growth. Sometimes the roots have to be divided, and start on your own with a new growth medium. Maybe due to my age, I have thought about a lot of different ties and letting go in my own life as well.

I am also deeply fascinated by the idea that there is life on both the dark side and the light side. The underground has its own network and the above-ground parts grow together with the light. When the parts growing on the ground wither, life remains in the roots, from which it rises to the surface again in the spring. The plant needs both light and darkness. If the roots are prevented from reaching the light by covering the ground with plastic, for example, the plant will slowly wither.

My paintings are partially created by removing paint. I have painted the fabric almost black, and started removing the color and “digging” out the roots. I have also thought a lot about the relationship between light and shadow while painting. Some of the paintings are still rooted in observations, and in others they have taken on an almost abstract form.”

Katri Stenberg (b. 1964 in Kuopio) lives and works in Hämeenlinna. Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts 1984-1989. Member of the Association of Artists, Ars-Häme and Hämeenlinna artists’ society. Held solo exhibitions and participated in collective and group exhibitions since 1989. Private exhibitions, e.g. In TM gallery in Helsinki, Taidesalong in Helsinki, Art center in Mältinranta in Tampere, Gallery in Saskia in Tampere, Gallery KONE in Hämeenlinna. Participated e.g. For annual Finnish artists exhibitions, Nuore’s exhibitions and regional exhibitions, e.g. in the Hämeenlinna Art Museum. The most recent joint exhibitions: Space in the background of observation 2020, a summer exhibition organized by Ars-Häme ry. at the old glass factory in Riihimäki, RÖNSY 2021, a summer exhibition organized by Ars-Häme in the former shopping center Linna. Works, e.g. in the collections of the Finnish government, Paulo Foundation, Hämeenlinna Art Museum and Kanta-häme Central Hospital.

More Info:
https://kuvataiteilijamatrikkeli.fi/taiteilija/katri-anneli-stenberg