Bio
Sanna Karlsson-Sutisna (KuM), as a versatile artist, has brought visual, dance, and performance art into everyday life as well as into museums, galleries, and public spaces for over 40 years. She studied at the Berlin University of the Arts in 1984–85, earned her Bachelor’s degree from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 1989 by combining dance and painting, and completed her Master’s degree in 1999 by combining performance art and sculpture. Karlsson-Sutisna has gained particular recognition for her intense ritual dance performances, paintings, and environmental sculptures. Her art searches for an increasingly deep unity with nature. She sends roots down deep into the earth and draws on the traditions of our ancestors.
Karlsson-Sutisna has explored the roots of art in Finland, Cuba, Bali, and Burkina Faso, and in 1987 developed a dance-painting technique in which the techniques of dance and visual art merge within the same person as a spatial artwork. She has studied light art techniques at the Theatre Academy and has created light installations, including one on the façade of Kanneltalo. Since 1991, she has also created wooden sculptures using Balinese techniques as well as a chainsaw, with works located in places such as Kaisaniemi and Kaivopuisto. She has produced around twenty public paintings, including works in various departments and the entrance lobby of Tammisaari Hospital. She created permanent children’s art parks in Helsinki in 2005 titled “Flower of Life” and in Arques-la-Bataille, France, in 2006 titled “Fleur de la Vie.” The concrete installation “Faces in the Metro on a Friday Evening” in the metro tunnel of Helsinki Central Railway Station was completed in 2007. Among Karlsson-Sutisna’s most beloved public works are the eco-wood sculpture “Strength and Sensitivity,” depicting a fetus, located in Helsinki Central Park, and the small bronze sculpture “Puppy” on the sculpture promenade in Kotka.
In 2010, Karlsson-Sutisna created the wooden sculpture installation and performance “Iroko – for the Tree of Life,” as well as a painting-dance workshop for the Africa exhibition at the EMMA Museum. Her works were prominently featured at the Mänttä Art Festival in 2011. The artist’s works and portraits are included in numerous public and private collections.
Blossom of tree of life (2009)
Artbook about Sanna Karlsson-Sutisna's 20-year art career.
www.karlsson-sutisna.com
www.artpark.siivet.org