ANOTHER NATURE – JUSSI KIVI

PRESS RELEASE (in Finnish)

Jussi Kivi (b. 1959) embodies many roles within his artistic persona: photographer, cartographer, wilderness explorer, ethnographer, and archaeologist. Kivi integrates all these disciplines—diverse sources of knowledge and skill—into his works, which include photographs and maps that serve as visual diaries of countless expeditions and records of profound encounters with nature.

Nature and carefully selected landscapes in Jussi Kivi’s photographs are imbued with a strong sense of presence, often revealing surprising details: a veil of mist hovering above a green wall of spruce trees turns out to be the onset of a forest fire. His photographs depict nature bearing traces of human activity and presence. These signs might appear as skyscrapers peeking through a romantic woodland view or a small group of people watching the sunset, seemingly insignificant compared to the surrounding scenery. In these images, humans and their creations seem like transient disturbances, fleeting details in the landscape destined to be reclaimed by trees, plants, and moss over time.

Places, their given names, and distinctive features hold a special significance in shaping our worldview. Every named location signifies its importance and reflects humanity’s need to mentally and physically map their surroundings to better manage and understand them. With the precision of a surveyor, Jussi Kivi sketches and records the routes he traverses through various terrains. Perhaps cartography, the creation of maps, is the most demanding art form of all; it seeks to capture a vast, complex surface teeming with thousands of details onto paper in the simplest, most comprehensible manner. Through maps, people interpret the landscape, claim it as part of their domain, and connect to its history. A map is the true portrait of a landscape.

The catalog accompanying the exhibition includes a text by Kari Rummukainen, M.Soc.Sc., which delves into Jussi Kivi’s field research as an artist and his experiences as a wanderer.

Publication:
ISBN 951-9355-39-1 Jussi Kivi: Toinen luonto / Another Nature
Pori Art Museum 29.1.-27.2.1994
Editing: Jari-Pekka Vanhala
Articles: Kari Rummukainen, FK, Helsinki
Translation: Satu Virtanen
Photographs: Jussi Kivi
Cover Photo: Jussi Kivi: Kartanluku tähystyspaikalla, 1994, Indian ink drawing
Painohäme Oy, Ylöjärvi 1994
Pori Art Museum Publications 22

Translated with ChatGPT