Kristina Riska is a Finnish artist who has been exploring, defying and redefining the traditional tenets of ceramic sculpture since the 1980s. Her unorthodox, large scale stoneware and artworks, which are inspired by nature and the properties of light and shadow, embody her rigorous, physical approach to her work.
Riska describes her process as a foray into the unknown, and that with each unplanned, instinctive manipulation of the clay she also establishes a non-physical “internal space.” She describes this space as a repository for her qualities of quietude, serenity and concentration, and also for a very specific memory of the interplay of light and shade cast upon her from the bars of her childhood cot. In an interview with Rae Verkkoranta from the Embassy of Finland in Brussels Riska discusses this process of transference: “… out of all the thoughts that I have had, every touch of the hand, all the ambient sound… these things [sic] latch onto the work,” giving each piece in the exhibition the intangible quality of her own history.
The ethereal, elusive qualities of Riska’s pieces also reflect her ideals of sustainability. She meticulously avoids the superfluous and works with a precision that conveys a striking effect with seemingly very little material.