Vassen Susar Exhibition – Finland at Korpoström and Kuusisto Art Manor, March to August 2016

Vassen Susar | Ruovikko suhisee |The Whispering Reeds

This exhibition arose out of a residency at the Saari residency where six artists, four Finnish and two Scottish, worked together and researched the impact and problems of common reed, Phragmites australis, in Finland. In Finland reed, Phragmites australis, has become a problem, an invasive species which is forming dense thickets around the islands as well as inland. We need to listen to the voice of the reed. It is telling us that things are out of balance. This installation is designed to experience common reed in a new way, encouraging you to ‘hear the reed’s voice’. These delicate weavings, made using the leaves of the reed, are an expression of the inter twinning of life, of the bond between people and the reed.

As part of the exhibition at Kuusisto Art Manor near Turku, I was in residence making work in response to the surroundings.  My workshop was in the old barn, which was situated in a wooded, mossy space.  Spending time on bike rides through this landscape informed and fed into the work that emerged.  Mosquitoes!