Kierrätetty Lintu (Recycled Bird) (2019)

I participated in Vanha Paukku Cultural Center (Kulttuurikeskus Vanha Paukku) artist residency program in Lapua, Finland, for two weeks in December 2019. The studio had an attic as a storage area, and during my stay I created art re-using whatever materials I could find there: leftover old wallpaper, wood scraps, old nails, flyers and paper trash, cardboard, dried plants, etc. I had been using recycled paper and used magazine pages to create my work, but wanted to push my practice further into that direction of re-use. Working with limited resources in the attic gave me better understanding of this practice, and led to my latest project Thank You Have A Nice Day, a series created using littered plastic bags picked up on streets. I am very grateful to Vanha Paukku’s program for being the catalyst.