"Eyes are huge as saucers" - a joint project of Riitta Ikonen and Karoline Hjorth

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Photographers from Finland and Norway, Riitta Ikonen and Karoline Hjorth created an amazing project, the heroes of which are elderly people. These fragile and touching portraits fill the void in the art world. Interestingly, if you look at these pictures several times, you can see completely different stories.

- How would you describe yourself in one sentence?

A creative and purposeful person, originally from Eastern Finland, who is fond of photography, the purpose of which is to convey information that cannot be expressed in simple words.

- What is your series of works entitled "Eyes are huge as saucers"?

This is my first collaboration with Norwegian photographer Karoline Hjorth. Inspired by folklore, as a vivid reflection of the soul of the people, we decided to tell different stories with the help of photographs, the meaning of each of which is not clear. The photographs show lonely figures against the backdrop of picturesque landscapes, using elements of the surrounding nature as clothing. The fusion of figure and background is reminiscent of folk legends in which the natural world was the personification of nature, linking inanimate objects with human consciousness.

- Does the place where you were born have an impact on your work?

Undoubtedly. The works are gradually returning to the natural environment in which I grew up. Having moved to New York, I was afraid that I would miss the trees that I was so used to admiring in Eastern Finland, and decided to create my own mini-forest near my house.

- Do you like working in a team?

Yes, as it makes the creative process unpredictable. Other people always bring something new to work, something that I never knew before. The team can sometimes force me to change the way I look at things, diversify my work and, of course, get to those heights that cannot be achieved alone.

- What are you working on now? What to expect in the near future?

I am working on setting up a studio in Brooklyn and preparing a new project. I didn't know what kind of reaction in New York to expect from the Eyes As Large as Saucers project. After our success, I plan to continue working as a team, because this is a great advantage.

This photo session is not inferior in originality to another one project by Riitta Ikonen, in which she turned ordinary men's and women's shoes into real shoe masterpieces.