-FOR-

The series features reliefs cast in dyed plaster in soft colours as sort of three-dimensional votive paintings dedicated to nature. Drawing from ornamentation of Jugenstil and the restrained visual language of Greek-orthodox icons, the plaster reliefs shift fluidly between painting and sculpture. By combining elements from different art forms, Rannikko has once more created an entirely new form of expression.

The reliefs show nature with its full intrinsic value. The little fables or thoughts suggested in the works focus completely in flora, fauna and the elements – all presence of humans and any utilitarian views of nature are erased. The subtly coloured intarsias conjure up a translucent vapour cloud, a water droplet or the wings of a starling, alongside more allusive forms, verging on abstraction.

The visual language or the works recalls the flowing shapes and glowing colour fields of Rannikko’s animated drawings; here too, the motifs seem to be in constant motion. Their shapes are clear and defined yet seem to dissolve and melt into another.

Dyed plaster, familiar from his earlier sculptures, has been this time turned in Rannikko’s hands into painting-like surfaces and three-dimensional forms with intarsia technique. The slow, intricate process demanded a more contemplative pace: layers of colour are cast individually on top of a concave plate, with forms carefully carved out in-between layers, and finally the surface is sanded to a matt, velvety finish.

The series is inspired by the Mexican tradition of ex-voto painting, in which gratitude for healing, success or survival is expressed through a small painting depicting the event. In Vesa-Pekka Rannikko’s reliefs, gratitude is directed towards the beings and elements of nature. The small-scale works hanging on a wall remind us gently of the existence of their subjects, of the natural world so easily forgotten in everyday life.

– Aleksandra Oilinki

All the works are cast and carved from dyed plaster.

Works are made 2025 and are approximately 27 x 34 x 3 cm in size.

Back Next