sculptor Jaakko Pernu, willow sculpture, Environmental Art / pajuveistoksia, ympäristötaidetta

Jaakko Pernu

Jaakko Pernu was born in 1958 in Kälviä, Finland, and lives and works in
the city of Oulu.
contact: +358 40 5640 454
Email: jaakko.pernu(at)anvianet.fi

www:

Kidnapping Nature -working proses
the Artists' Association of Finland
www.kuvataiteilijamatrikkeli.fi

Jaakko Pernu, Flux Aura Turku,
1996 - 00. paju, kork. 4 m

Environmental Art / Ympäristötaidetta willow sculpture / Materiaalina paju

Kidnapping Nature -working process photo gallery 2006

Jaakko Pernu is a Finnish sculptor and environment artist living in the city of Oulu. He has been working 20 years with natural material - often in an oversized scale. Lately he has been working mostly abroad creating many public site specific works around Europe and Canada.

Many of Jaakko Pernu’s works derive their inspiration from his early life, growing up in rural Eastern Finland. As a child, Pernu helped his father construct wooden boats. He observed his father’s technique of manipulating wood to create sweeping, elegant shapes, and this is evident in his distinct environmental sculptures.

Jaakko Pernu, paju veistos
Vagrant, Kotka 2001, willow / paju, korkeus 8,2 m

Pernu’s work is generally made of natural materials – branches and trunks found near a site, expertly woven together to achieve exquisite forms. Often made of willow, his works are typically left to the elements, and their degradation serves as an aspect of the work as they weather and decay over time.

"The ideas to my works come intuitively into existence by surprise out of time and place. I feel that my ready works can be part of the specific art world, placed in a museum or in a gallery, but just as well they can be in the dimension of everyman, on a strange route, along by which you would bump into them by chance. My theme is the influence of humans on nature - the influence of nature on humans."
by Jaakko Pernu

Timberline - Puuraja

Jaakko Pernu: Timber Line, Bryssel, Belgia 2006, willow, height 6m

"A heap of rough, trimmed tree trunks, nicely piled up, is in itself a signal of man's presence and his wish to influence the surrounding nature - to mark it."

"Kuorimaton karsittu rankapino on jo itsessään sopivasti sommiteltuna luonnossa viesti ihmisen läsnäolosta ja halusta vaikuttaa ympäröivään luontoon – merkitä se."

"Timberline, puuraja, is a tangible concept in the Northern latitudes. A timberline, marked with willow, in the middle of a European city may be a Northern comment on the spread of cities. At the same time, it may represent an aesthetic "timberline" either in a built-up or in a natural environment. I try to allow for multiple interpretations of my works: they do not preach loudly.

My working techniques are a direct continuation of the traditional Finnish itch for "hands-on" methods, in which in one form or another, materials derived from nature were always used. I feel that my completed works can be a part of the defined art world of galleries or museums; however, they can also be within reach of the so-called man in the street, who might bump into the artworks by chance along unfamiliar paths. In that instance, you could say that the intuitive ball of comprehension has been thrown to the viewer."

"Timber line, puuraja, on konkreettinen käsite pohjoisilla leveysasteilla. Pajulla merkitty puuraja keskellä eurooppalaista pääkaupunkia voi olla pohjoinen kommentti kaupunkirakentamiseen. Yhtä lailla voi olla kyse esteettisestä ”puurajasta” joko rakennetussa tai luonnontilaisessa ympäristössä. Pyrin teoksissani monitulkintaisuuteen, työni eivät julista suurella äänellä.
Työskentelyprosessini ovat suoraa jatkoa perinteiselle suomalaiselle käsin tekemisen vimmalle, mihin olennaisesti ovat kuuluneet luonnonmateriaalit jossain muodossa. Koen, että valmiit työni voivat olla osa määriteltyä taidemaailmaa, sijoitettuna museoon tai galleriatilaan, mutta yhtä hyvin ne voivat olla niin sanotun jokamiehen ulottuvilla, oudoilla reiteillä, joiden varsilla niihin sattumalta törmää. Silloin ymmärryksen intuitiivinen pallo on heitetty katsojalle."

by Jaakko Pernu

Parasol, Oulu 2001, Willow

Photo Gallery

Vagrant, Kotka 2001, willow / paju,
korkeus 8,2 m

Beacon, willow, Kokkola, 2002 /
Lyysi, paju, kork. 4,5 m

A Funnel Lyxury, 2008
yksityisnäyttelystäni: Arte Sella, Gallery Malga Costa, Borgo Valsugana, Italia
materiaali: paju, kork. 4 m
kuvaaja: Giancarlo Dal Savio

For the big family, willow, Joensuu, 2006 /
Suurelle suvulle. paju. korkeus 6,5 m

Organ of Hearing, Fiskars 1999 - 03
willow / paju, korkeus 7 m

Ground Beneath, Oulu 1996 - 99
paju, korkeus 9,5 m,
photo: Markku Siekkinen