Kaarina Kaikkonen's longing clothes line

Artist Statement by Kaarina Kaikkonen 

I think that all my work with jackets has to do with the existence of a human being, or rather, my idea of it. Humankind is just a very tiny part of the natural world, with no special rights to think of themselves as more important than anything else – this is one of the reasons why I make landscapes out of clothings. But also, I like the feeling of an old jacket, the feeling of someone having worn it, and somehow a jacket is also a feeling of my father, who died suddenly when I was a child, in front of my eyes. (+)

Kaarina Kaikkonen is known for installations that are modest and monumental at the same time – the scale is lofty, but the materials down to earth.(+) Kaikkonen uses her own experiences as a starting point for exploring the human condition, with death, memory and loss having a tangible presence in many of her installations. (+)

Most often she makes sculpture from used materials such as telephone directories, moulded kraft paper, potato sacks and second-hand clothing (+). The meaning of a piece can arise from the great number and anonymity of the clothes’ former owners, such as in her jacket installations, or from the personal memories and emotions of the people who have used the objects. On the other hand, the jackets, shirts and ties she uses are connected to Kaikkonen’s deceased father, yet their sheer number steers associations towards crowds (+). 

Her work transcends the disciplinary boundaries between sculpture, installation and architecture. The interplay between the materials and the space builds up powerful and complex symbolic meanings in the works. Yet in spite of their profound complexity, Kaikkonen’s works are very approachable. Their references range from personal fates of individuals to great social upheavals and natural disasters, from religion and philosophy to environment issues and everyday life. (+) 

In addition, her work with recycled clothing focuses on infusing the human spirit into environments by taking garments that seem to act as vestiges of the persons who once wore them. Old jackets, shoes and shirts take on a new life, sometimes sad, sometimes witty, but always infused with a sense of surprising vitality. Old jackets become apparitions that seem to float above city streets, while other plaster covered jackets at the foot of a shore seem to struggle for life. Old women's shoes turn into insect like creatures, opening delicate wings made from soles. Clothing takes on as much life as the persons who wore them. (+) 

There in the street, in the countryside, are mountains of clothes, kilometers and kilometers of clothes strung together with each other that take on new symbolic meaning. They carry the imprint of what we were and what we fail to be or what we did not want to be, but also unite, incorporating us into a new project, and the clothing acquires a new value. (+) 

Kaarina Kaikkonen’s installations go beyond the standard topics of transmodernity without borders and tell us about the past, the future, dialogue, communication, the relationship between art and its surroundings, the obligation to preserve the space and endowing them with new life and the obligation to evolve without destroying. (+)