Oloseutu

2024–ongoing

ceramics, glass, sand, bronze, water, (chipboard)



photos by Tuure Leppänen, Veera Lakovaara / Oulu Art Museum, Meri Hallenberg 

“Oloseutu” reflects the relationship between national identity and landscape from my Finnish-Congolese background. Throughout history, the landscape has been utilized in the construction of national identity, such as in 19th century Finland that strived for independence. By using landscape as a tool to express emotions the work is formed from personal feelings that give shape to one’s own experience of nationality. There are references to the Congo River and the fishing villages along it, as well as to the frozen currents in the Finnish vicinity. Together the body of work describes an emotional state dealing with loss and the circulation of one’s being. 

The title of the work refers to Gloria Anzaldúa's borderland theory (Rajaseutu), in which a borderland is described as a third country that has emerged from the clash of cultures between two countries. In the case of the work, a borderland can be thought of as a state (of mind and a nation) which is formed from feelings.

By following the changing nature of feelings, the work itself is also in the midst of constant change. As a counterbalance to the classically immortalized national landscape, the work changes its form at different times. At the same time, through temporality and process, it explores what it is like to create a work that isn’t locked into a final form but that lives and breathes aswell.

“Oloseutu” exhibited at HAM gallery (2025)
“Oloseutu” exhibited at Oulu Art Museum (2024)
         “Oloseutu” exhibited at the Academy of Fine Arts Helsinki (2024)