Karoline Hjorth and Riitta Ikonen
Nature, folklore and serendipitous photo collaborations
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About Karoline Hjorth and Riitta Ikonen
Driven by curiosity and imagination in their ongoing collaboration, Norwegian-Finnish artist duo Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen have travelled to 14 countries to understand our relationship with our surroundings. Their series Eyes as Big as Plates started out in 2011 studying the personifications of nature and folkloric explanations to natural phenomenons in the Nordic countries and has grown to over one hundred portraits. The work of Karoline and Riitta has been featured worldwide including in the Museum of Contemporary Arts Kiasma (Finland), The Chimney Gallery NYC, Bogota International Photo Biennale, National Museum of Art, and Seibu Shibuya (Tokyo). Eyes as Big as Plates was nominated for the Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation Photobook Awards in 2017 and won gold for best cover in Årets vakreste Bøker in 2018. Their collaboration continues with new works and exhibitions in Senegal, Outer Hebrides and Turkey.
Find out moreAbout This Talk
Our connection to nature - and to the world around us - is difficult to measure. Yet, it is being documented in marvelous ways by Nordic Nature Artists Karoline Hjorth and Riitta Ikonen. Long time collaborators, Karoline and Riitta use their art to capture narratives around how humans participate in and communicate with their surroundings. Traveling the globe, they meet local collaborators and collectively create immersive art that captures modern human relationships to nature. Whether built with pine needles, carnivorous plants, or otherwise, these immersive portraits capture the balance between human life and the climate that surrounds us.
There is a beautiful harmony that exists between humans and nature. See how it's captured by watching Riitta and Karoline in their 2020 TEDMED Talk "Nature, folklore and serendipitous photo collaborations".