Lokal Creators / Sasha Huber

Sasha Huber is a visual artist of Swiss-Haitian heritage. Born in Zurich, Switzerland, she currently lives and works in Helsinki, Finland. Huber’s work is primarily concerned with history’s influence on the present and focuses mainly on the ramifications of colonialism. She’s sensitive to the subtle threads that connect historical attitudes to modern outlooks,  and works with performance-based interventions, video, photography, publications, graphic design and archival material. We visited her studio as she was working on her new Star, Sun and Drop pieces for our Jewel exhibition, as well as her Tailoring Freedom series, exhibited at Autograph in London (’22–’23). We are very honoured and pleased to have been presenting her works for several years now, both in Helsinki and abroad, looking forward to the new stories and shared journey ahead.

Lokal Creators / Sasha Huber

Sasha Huber (b. 1975) is a visual artist of Swiss-Haitian heritage. Born in Zurich, Switzerland, she currently lives and works in Helsinki, Finland. Huber’s work is primarily concerned with history’s influence on the present and focuses mainly on the ramifications of colonialism. She’s sensitive to the subtle threads that connect historical attitudes to modern outlooks,  and works with performance-based interventions, video, photography, publications, graphic design and archival material. We visited her studio as she was working on her new Star, Sun and Drop pieces for our Jewel exhibition, as well as her Tailoring Freedom series, exhibited at Autograph in London (’22–’23). We are very honoured and pleased to have been presenting her works for several years now, both in Helsinki and abroad, looking forward to the new stories and shared journey ahead.

“I am originally from Zurich, and I’ve lived in Finland since twenty years now, and it is here that I started my artistic career during my studies. It is during those studies that I discovered the staple gun for myself, and immediately realised that it is like a weapon. The weight and sound, and the fact that I had to protect my ears, and eyes as well, reminded me very much of a weapon. I realised that I would like to use this when it somehow relates to this symbolic meaning. 

I can discuss issues that I am interested about, and at the beginning, it was a lot about my mother’s heritage, or where my mother comes from, which is Haiti. And so the stapling, as a methodology, changed from shooting to becoming more of a stitching of the colonial wound. And rather, to tell stories of people that were silenced in history, or have not been remembered, and to use my energy more for highlighting those histories. 

More recently I started to work with colour, and I had this urge to make works that are relating to my relationship to water, and the different histories around this ever-moving element. Water that is also covering most of the world – we are made of water. I also often relate working like this as a starting point for how I started to make my work, and I will speak about it being a seed that I planted at the time, where I put my heart into, and things started to grow, from there.” – Sasha Huber

Shop: Sasha Huber’s Works

Explore: Lokal Creators

Lokal Creators / Minna Arponen

Minna Arponen is a jewellery designer and maker from Helsinki. Recently, she’s been fascinated by the tiny glass beads that she used to play with in her childhood. We visited her studio where most of her pieces take form, if not in her lap on tram rides through the city.

Lokal Creators / Pan Jianfeng

Pan Jianfeng is a conceptual artist working predominately with paper and ink. His background and techniques are rooted in tradition, but his works are strong and contemporary. We visited his home studio one early spring afternoon to learn more about his works in our Year of the Rabbit exhibition.

Lokal Creators / Aimo Katajamäki

Aimo Katajamäki is an artist, illustrator, and graphic designer. His superhero wood sculptures depict human nature in a subtle and delicate way. We visited his studio just a few blocks from Lokal as he was carving his new pieces for the Year of the Rabbit exhibition.

Lokal Creators / Milla Vaahtera

Milla Vaahtera is a designer and artist best known for her unique pieces combining bold glass parts with delicate brass.On a winter’s day earlier this year we visited her studio in an old elementary school building in Helsinki, where she assembles her pieces.

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