Anna Karoliina Vainio | Too Close for Comfort

Year2024
MediumPatchwork, recycled materials, glass beads
Size47 x 35 x 1,5 cm
Categories

Anna-Karoliina Vainio lives and works in Helsinki as a visual artist working with textile and yarn art. In recent years, collections of works have arisen from her own and a loved one's serious illness, the uncertainty of existence, and a pre-teen's memories of Sipoo in the 21st century. Vainio often uses bright colors, nostalgia and Naive imagery in her works. Vainio's work has been seen in several solo and group exhibitions, for example the Youth 2023 exhibition at Helsinki Art Hall, the Wäinö Aaltonen Museum, HAM and the Generation 2020 exhibition at Amos Rex.

The patchwork works are a new territorial conquest in Vainio’s practice, the technique originating from necessity. The soft collages made from recycled materials were created during cancer treatments, when the blood vessels in the hands became painful due to the harsh treatments. Working on rugs and tapestries, typical of Vainio, became painful. Soon, however, the new technique began to feel like its own and, waiting for the first widow leaves of spring, vegetation sprouted on the canvas.

Anna Karoliina Vainio