Kaisu Koivisto’s interests are deeply rooted in the North: its landscapes, its political and historical dimensions, investigating processes of change. In her ongoing photographic projects Conversations With Ice and Soft Ice Koivisto explores Arctic landscapes dominated by ice, sea and rocks. She captures landscapes that are no longer serene and untouched, yet remain unnervingly beautiful even in the face of looming ecological emergencies.

The presence and consequences of human activity is visible as an estranged landscape and mindscape. Koivisto regards her works as emotional visualisations of natural phenomena, and changing environments and climates.

In summer 2024 Koivisto participated in The Arctic Circle Special Circumnavigation, Art & Science Expedition residency in the International Territory of Svalbard. Her participation was generously supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation and Alfred Kordelin Foundation.

Experimental multiple exposure analogue photography, 2024 – ongoing. Bridges, tunnels, streets, cityscapes meld into a folded vista.

Elements of documentation, architecture and Kaisu Koivisto’s personal interests intersect with the formal qualities of the photographs.  The use of 35 mm photographic  film through multiple exposures dominates the  structures, geometry and composition  of the images.

”Due to the unforeseen results of multiple exposures, this method creates its own internal order. It bends  and folds into surprising perspectives and at times loses details. It results in unexpected shapes and colors which twist the connection between the image and the photographed topic. A familiar scene, or the processes of construction may appear as repulsive, raw or uncanny. My intention through the double exposures is to bridge places, buildings, environments, eras and people. The layered and juxtaposed images create a dialogue”,  Kaisu Koivisto tells about the process.

Helsinki, Under Construction is a photographic series (2023 – ongoing) focusing on the Merihaka, Sörnäinen, Nihti and Sompasaari areas and shorelines in Helsinki. They are undergoing rapid changes due to the construction of residential areas, buildings, bridges and streets.

The photographs have many strains and themes as a starting point. Elements of documentation , architecture and Koivisto’s personal interests intersect with the formal qualities of the photographs. The use of 35 mm photographic film through multiple exposures dominates the structures , geometry and composition of the images.

”Due to the unforeseen results of multiple exposures, this method creates its own internal order. It bends into unexpected perspectives and at times loses details. It results in unexpected shapes and colors which twist the connection between the image and the photographed topic. A familiar scene, or the processes of construction may appear as repulsive, raw or uncanny. Or as a floating dreamscape in which cranes and excavators appears an insect-like creatures stopped in the middle of their activities.

My interest in history and the way it is shaped in the here and now is reflected in my artistic practice. The incompleteness and on-going changes of construction sites fascinate me. In my photographs the visible transitions also include factors such as the changes in the seasons and the weather. Some elements – such as redundant navigation markers for ships – disappear from the shorelines, and simultaneusly the views are transformed by new structures which alter the cityscape”, Kaisu Koivisto tells about the process.

A passage is a channel or opening which a person or thing may pass through. It also means the transition from one stage to another, or a journey.

Passages is an ongoing series of digital collage photographs which Kaisu Koivisto has worked on since 2021. She begins with a photograph of a space, building or a structure which she alters through adding and removing details. The additions lead the process of viewing the image. Often the additions block and disturb the gaze, which result in an ambiguous reading of the photograph. At times the images become nearly abstract.

Koivisto photographs and films in anonymous, often abandoned constructions: military bases, factories and clinics. For the series Passages Koivisto has photographed among others at the Kreenholm factory in Narva, Estonia, in 2017 and 2022 while staying at the Narva Artist Residency, as well as at Linnahall building in Tallin, Estonia.

By means of digital collage Koivisto adds and subtracts information to suggest new ways of seeing the images, thus deconstructing and reconstructing the histories and meanings of images.

”My approach to making the collages is very intuitive. I examine the cues in the images and at times amplify them, or at times hide them.The series is much about imagining light, colors and shapes into the images and the spaces they depict. My additions create new spaces and ideas,” Kaisu Koivisto tells about her artistic practice.

Kaisu Koivisto is interested in histories and microhistories: circumstances and changes which shape the here and now, leading into an uncertain future. Post-industrial spaces which she photographs may find a new life. Or, they are destroyed, or taken over by forces of nature which break concrete structures and cover everything with vegetation in a continuous cycle of life.

Works from the series Passages were shown in Kaisu Koivisto’s solo shows at Gallery Halmetoja, Helsinki in 2023 and at NART, Narva, Estonia in 2024.

Works from the series Passages were shown in Kaisu Koivisto’s solo shows at Gallery Halmetoja, Helsinki in 2023 and at NART, Narva, Estonia in 2024.

A passage is a channel or opening which a person or thing may pass through. It also means
the transition from one stage to another, or a journey.

Passages is an ongoing series of digital collage photographs which Kaisu Koivisto has worked on since 2021. She begins with a photograph of a space, building or a structure which she alters through adding and removing details. The additions lead the process of viewing the image. Often the additions block and disturb the gaze, which result in an ambiguous reading of the photograph. At times the images become nearly abstract.

Koivisto photographs and films in anonymous, often abandoned constructions: military bases, factories and clinics. For the series Passages Koivisto has photographed among others at the Kreenholm factory in Narva, Estonia, in 2017 and 2022 while staying at the Narva Artist Residency, as well as at Linnahall building in Tallin, Estonia.

By means of digital collage Koivisto adds and subtracts information to suggest new ways of seeing the images, thus deconstructing and reconstructing the histories and meanings of images.

”My approach to making the collages is very intuitive. I examine the cues in the images and at times amplify them, or at times hide them.The series is much about imagining light, colors and shapes into the images and the spaces they depict. My additions create new spaces and ideas,” Kaisu Koivisto tells about her artistic practice.
Kaisu Koivisto is interested in histories and microhistories: circumstances and changes which shape the here and now, leading into an uncertain future. Post-industrial spaces which she photographs may find a new life. Or, they are destroyed, or taken over by forces of nature which break concrete structures and cover everything with vegetation in a continuous cycle of life.

New Nuuk is an on-going visual essay about the rapid urbanization of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. On my first visit to Nuuk in 2018 I was captivated by the visible changes happening in the city and its surroundings. It was striking to see old buildings and structures give way to new constructions which are vividly visible in the barren and majestic landscapes dominated by the sea and surrounding mountains. It is estimated that in 2030 the population of Nuuk will reach 30 000. Now, in 2025, it is roughlt 20 000.

How is the impact of technologies visible in the environment? What is nature? What kind of traces of the past can be seen in the environment? What kind of stories do current changes tell and to which future directions do they point? The changes are a result of complex shifts in many areas of the society and the economy.

No view is innocent, no gaze is innocent – there are many undercurrents and interests in action when envisioning what kind of transitions the North will encounter in times to come. Greenlandic traditions and traces of the colonialist past of Greenland meet the demands of contemporary urban planning and housing. Economical, political and military interests are an integral part of the way in which the future is shaped. My aim is to continue the project till 2030.

Urbanization is a global phenomenon. The current trends in architecture and building connect the vistas in Nuuk with contemporary building esewhere in the Nordics. This is also a relevant topic in this project. I am an outsider in Nuuk. As a city dweller and having the processes of building – and post industrial neglect and oblivion – as dominant themes in my work, I am aware of my point of view and perception of the topics I address.

The project has been generously supported by Nordisk kulturkontakt (2018), Finnish Cultural Foundation (2019), Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation (2022), and Arts Promotion Centre Finland (2023).

Video available at: https://vimeo.com/593157539 (7 min, 2022)

For more images: https://kaisukoivisto.pictures.fi/kuvat/New+Nuuk,+Greenland+2018/

In April 2024 Kaisu Koivisto began to work on a new photo-based series in Rome, focusing on the modernist architecture of Villaggio Olimpico, the Olympic Village. It was planned by architects Vittorio Cafiero, Adalberto Libera, Amedeo Luccichenti, Vincenzo Monaco and Luigi Moretti. Pierluigi Nervi’s monumental viaduct runs through the area.

The Olympic Village area was realized 1957 – 1960 to house athletes participating in the Olympic games in Rome in 1960. After the olympics it was converted into public housing. At Villaggio Olimpico the planning principles of the Modernist Movement meet historic Rome not far from the area. More recent additions to the architectural structures include Renzo Piano’s auditorium and Maxxi Museum by Zaha Hadid.

Koivisto photographs with digital and analogue media, seeking the changing soulcape of today.

She chose to experiment with multiple exposures and half-frame photography, in Villaggio olimpico and elsewhere in Rome. Koivisto’s artistic practice focuses on long term projects concerning the notion of changes in cityscapes – in metropolitan areas and historic cities like Rome, and also in smaller communities such as in Nuuk in Greenland.

Landscape on a Rice Grain

Solo exhibition, Forum Box, Helsinki. March 2nd to 25th, 2018.

I walk in a cellar guided by the light of a headlamp. The pitch-dark rooms are like angular caves. The chilly air feels humid, and the odor of mould is intense. The silence of concrete; the sound of water dripping in the distance. Images of landscapes glued onto the wall and flaking paint meld into a fascinating grotto scene. A socket sticks out of the wall like a strange burl. A kind of urban nature walk.
(Kaisu Koivisto’s work diary, spring 2017)

In Landscape on a Rice Grain Kaisu Koivisto explores the yearning for observing scenery and natural phenomena, and creating images of them. The exhibition consisted of photographs, sculpture and a video installation. The works of the extensive entity were connected by pictorial motifs such as forest, vegetation, clouds and ships in very contrasting contexts.

“My working method is combining things in a collage-like way. I juxtapose and connect materials, motifs and techniques of working.

Thematic photography is an essential part of my artistic practice. It is a powerful means in examining how traces of history, memory and the past are present in the here and now. They appear as receding and often contradictory remains in the changes of the world”, Koivisto tells about her artistic practice.

Kaisu Koivisto photographs in places which had their primes long ago: in locker rooms of factories and abandoned military bases in Eastern Europe. The political dimensions of the locations and sceneries remind one of their troubled past. Natural phenomena and the inevitably proceeding processes in nature are prominently visible in her lens-based works.

Turquoise ( 2023)

Single channel video installation. Duration: 22 min continuous loop, no audio.
Documentation 5 min

In the Turquoise video installation, visual artists Kaisu Koivisto and Anna Nykyri examine the colour of the water of the Baltic Sea, which is affected among other things by pollutants, eutrophication and blue algae. Baltic Sea research data is used as indicators of changes in the image flow of the work.

The image layers in Turkoosi show the world of living creatures depicted with the help of a micros-cope, aquatic plants, waves and sea animals. The work was filmed in the Gulf of Finland, at the Husö Biological Station in the Åland Islands and on Svalbard.

The premier of Turquoise was at the Lux Helsinki Light Festival in Helsinki, 4th to 8th January 2023, projected on the Dance House Helsinki facade. It was also included in the exhibition The Unknown Baltic, at Levyhalli located on the Suomenlinna island in Helsinki, May 17th to 15th 2023. The curator of the exhibition: Henna Paunu.
Artists: Kaisu Koivisto and Anna Nykyri
Data-based compositing: Roberto Fusco

In co-operation with: Niilo Helander Foundation, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Oskar Öflund Foundation, The Finnish Cultural Foundation, Alfred Kordelin Foundation, City of Helsinki, Tony Cederberg / Åbo Akademi University, Finnish Environment Institute / Kari Kallio, Jenni Attila, Vesa Keto and Sea Life Helsinki.

Thanks to: Marko Tandefelt

Index
Installation; 2010. Ink and aquarelle on 10 x 15 cm index cards.

In spring 2010 I spent five months in Rome at the Finnish Institute. While curiously exploring historical sites and neighborhoods I happened to find amid rubbish – as an “archeologist of the present” – boxes containig old library index cards. After consulting historians it became evident that the index cards are approximately hundred years old. The cards deal mostly with books on the Italian Risorgimento of the 19th century, an ideological and literary movement to unite a nation which was dominated by several states. Some titles on the index cards refer to medicine and classical literature.

The function of library index cards is to organize information by a set of rules. Out of its context, the postcard-sized (15 x 10 cm) cards, executed in beautiful calligraphy on various kinds of paper, became a starting point for a work which comments the fragmentary, contextualizing and additive nature of history, and, narratives in general. I used ink and water color to make figures on the cards, the end result resembling the arbitrary images of a Rorschach-test in which one can recognize shapes and figures by free association. Although the texts and information on the index cards are important parts of the work, they are not the subject matter of Index. My aim is to utilize the histories in order to illuminate the present – how do we react to historical facts; as a tourist how does one approach historical sites; how are the histories visible in the present moment.

Contemporary academic discourse on visual art images often refers to images as “texts” which are “read”. By adding more layers on the index cards I seek to emphasize the interpretative and imaginative aspect of both visual art and scientific research. Both employ fragments and interpretation of multi-layered information from which a greater picture evolves. The result is often a mosaic-like entity which is subject to re-interpretation due to the shifting focus of interests and discourses.

Archive and Ornament I – V

Ink and Aquarelle on index cards; 2010. Four framed parts, each 83,5 x 104 x 4 cm.

Archive and Ornament is a playful take on interacting with index cards and the information and marks on them.

I draw Maps Anew. Ink on maps, 2015

]Kaisu Koivisto uses salvaged materials in her works. Their common denominators are history, memory and the ways in which traces and objects from the past are present in the here and now, reminders of changes happening in the world.  A suite of drawings on vintage maps form one entity. Maps are charged, political objects. The modest pieces of printed matter bear history.