W48” x L48”, height adjustable
Steel, copper, DC relay, Arduino, AC DC power supply, induction heating board module, electric wires, fiber glass, wood
Some materials are older than time itself. Spun in the stars with unlimited potential and spiraled into existence.
In gleaming hot metal the birth of the universe becomes visible for a moment. In a burst of energy heat and blinding light are emitted from within. Heat dancing on top of metal surface reveals cosmic shades of purple and blue, mottled together in an otherworldly glow.
All materials come with their intrinsic life spans. Through millennia after millennia, matter fulfills its eternal cycle and returns to its original state as cosmic dust, while the rhythm of the transformation has seemingly eternal proportions. Eventually, a new world will be born, which carries the possibility of new life within.
A steel drop hangs down from above on a long rod to meet a copper coil that reaches up from below through holes in a large patinated steel plate. The coil heats the drop through magnetic fields until it glows red for a moment, then cools down. The cycle repeats, slowly gently pulsing, like a twinkling star in the distance.
Hanna Ryynänen’s art grows from the background in jewelry, but she moves fluently between materials and different fields of visual art. Currently, working mainly with steel and other metals, she listens for life inside materials and lets them unravel through transformation. As a maker, she searches for vital signs within materials and processes, and creates objects and installations.
Through ancient materials, Ryynänen arranges thoughts about life and birth, about an ultimate coincidence. She depicts time, growth, and change and reaches towards the qualities some of life’s major unanswered questions evoke. She thinks about countless possibilities of existing and what it means to be alive, as these questions remain forever enigmatic and unanswered, stirring our minds. The artist believes in beauty of mystery, where there still is room for imagination to grow.
Hanna Ryynänen is a visual artist and jeweler from Lappeenranta, Finland. She majored in jewelry art and graduated from Saimaa University of Applied Sciences in 2016. Since then, her works have traveled internationally in renowned exhibitions such as METALLOphone in Lithuania, KORU-triennials in Finland, Northern Light in The Netherlands, and Talente in Germany. Her pieces can also be found in the collections of The Finnish State Art Commission and Kuopio Art Museum.
At the moment, Ryynänen is studying for her master’s degree at Cranbrook Academy of Art in the Metalsmithing Department, 2024.
https://www.instagram.com/hannajuulia
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