SAKARI KANNOSTO: Children of the Flood

Sakari Kannosto: Children of the Flood is a catalogue published by Hostler Burrows on the occasion of the artist’s exhibition at HB381. 

About the Exhibition

Sakari Kannosto (Finnish, b. 1973) is a multimedia artist working in Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa, Finland, with a primary focus on ceramic sculptures and large-scale installations. His fantastical and figurative creatures are inspired by fables, Greek mythology, and Finnish folklore. As he sculpts part-human, part-mermaid, part-animal beings, he references the Finnish myth that animals can shape-shift, traveling between worlds as protectors. Imbued with whimsy and humor, Kannosto’s work is also underscored by a deep environmental consciousness. By reimagining a future where humans unite with nature to create adaptive, survivalist families, Kannosto addresses the potentially disastrous environmental consequences brought on by the industrialized world. For Kannosto, clay is crucial to the actualization of his work. As an ancient medium, it has long been a conduit for coded information. He continues in this vein, luring magic out of the clay as he creates a cast of creatures for modern fairytales. There is something deeply hopeful here.

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