Biography

The artistic work of visual artist Hanna Kanto is based on Northern themes. She started her latest artistic project in Enontekiö, the northernmost part of Finnish Lapland, during the summer 2018 by cooperating with the scientist group called BioGeoClimate Modelling Lab. Their work is focused on the spatial and temporal modelling of Earth systems, as biogeography and climatology, and their interactions. By using modern research equipment and statistical modelling, the researchers observe phenomena which might be invisible for a human eye. The time Kanto spent on the field and results of the phenomena observing has become the core of her latest art practice.

The natural sciences serve a zooming lens to the themes she is working on. It opens up a pathway for her to know how processes and changes take place in nature. Like scientists, she uses scientific knowledge and tools such as a microscopic lens to increase understanding and extend her gaze to the invisible layers of the landscape.

The second way to focus in on the theme is working with the collected mineral and plant samples in her studio. By making pigments from natural materials she gets a concrete tangibility with the places she is exploring. The roots, plants and mineral samples she collects from the terrain are transformed into pigments. Through various chemical processes she studies their essence and tones, get a closer view and touch to the terrain. One of the end results of this work is to have access to the typical tones of the area. Alchemy's involvement in the process serves a bridge between science and art. Working with natural materials interests her also from an ecological point of view during the time of environmental and ecological crisis.

From the sourced raw materials Kanto produces series of paintings. The visual elements of her paintings are based on the processes that emerge in nature, such as the circulation of substances, symbiosis, growth and the discharge of gases. The visual elements are often ambiguous and unrecognizable because they have been transformed and abstracted through the language of painting. The connections between the elements take place at different levels, and the changes in them mutually affect each other. These themes emerge repeatedly in her paintings due to the layered character of her artistic practice.

The topics Kanto is working with have had an enriching effect on her working methods. Although she still mainly work by painting on canvas, she has extended her expression to the three-dimensional ceramic elements. Sometimes ceramics are part of the paintings and sometimes they are shown as independent works. The ceramics complement her artistic work by depicting vegetation, organisms, fungi and parts of micro-plants and by interacting with the two-dimensional form of paintings.

Hanna Kanto graduated from the University of Lapland as a Master of Art 2007 and as a Master of Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts, Uniarts Helsinki 2022. She has participated in several joint exhibitions and projects, and she have had solo exhibitions in Finland and abroad actively since 2009. Hanna Kanto is living and working in France and Finland.