Saara Renvall
Artist & Designer
Specialized in:
I’m not truly specialized in anything, but I know a little bit of many things. Creating objects and furniture comes easy for me and I'm at my best while working in the three-dimensional, material world, creating solutions and realizations that resonate emotional depth.
Why do you create?
It’s part of my DNA, it is mandatory to me. I create because I try to understand the world around me. For me, creation is about solving problems, not causing them. It is about connecting with others and being in the service of humanity.
What random things are inspiring for you at the moment:
Analogical world, poetry, forests, Pharrell Williams, playing football, art, recession and Japanese fashion.
Bio
Saara Renvall is an artist and designer working on objects and sculptures. She does not limit herself to any pre-determined set of materials or techniques, as for her the relationship between the subject and the material is essential and defining in her artistic process. With her work she wants to reminds us what we should remember; value of time and humanity, our relationship with others and the nature, and our profound connection with everything that surrounds us. Her vision is to create objects that serve as mediators, objects similar to talismans or mental compasses.
Her work stems from an urge to understand the world and how to be a human in it. She sees her practice as some kind of a survival mechanism and the only sensible way of communicating her observations and thoughts. She addresses topics that are too complicated or difficult to just think, talk or write through.
After finishing her training as a carpenter, Renvall graduated from the Aalto University, Helsinki and received her Master of Arts in 2002. In beginning of her career, she worked as a freelance designer with more traditional design projects before expanding her practice towards new areas through material studies, experimental prototypes and one-offs. Since 2017 she has focused on stronger artistic self-expression and independence.
Renvall received the Bryggman Award in 2005 for her merits in creative design. She has also received the Finnish Cultural Foundation one-year grant for artistic work in 2008, 2009 and 2017, along with several smaller grants, scholarships and prizes since year 2000. In 2010, Renvall was awarded The Young Designer of the Year Prize. Since the beginning of 2022, Renvall’s work is supported by the Arts Promotion Center Finland with a three-years artist grant, as well as an exhibition grant from the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Uusimaa Regional fund.