SANDRA KANTANEN

Sandra Kantanen (born 1974, Helsinki, Finland) trained in photography at the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Helsinki. 

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I first saw Sandra’s work after a visit to Gascony 3 years ago, where a meadow next to a forgotten ‘manoir’ had been left to grow, die back and spring forth again for several years.  So many wild flowers captured in a single image reminded me of this beautiful and peaceful moment which I knew I had to revisit often.  

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Sandra studied painting at the Central Academy of Art in Beijing which enabled her to compile painting and photography thereby recreating the images she had long envisaged across two visual cultures reflecting Asian and Western philosophy, art theory and art history.  

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Part of her photography process is to dissect the light between the camera and subject matter, and to examine nature in its state of constant transformation more closely, following the weather, reflecting its fragility. The resulting ephemerality is essential—the shifting of light and colour that renders the landscape an image in perpetual motion.

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The staging of shooting locations, layered imagery, and digitally manipulated pixels are reminiscent of dripping paint which underscore the constructed nature of both image and landscape. The result encourages the view to reflect deeply on the finished work, realising the disturbance of nature in her pursuit of an elusive deal.  

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Kantanen has published two monographs Landscapes, 2009, and More Landscapes, 2029, published by Hatje Cantz.   Her work is represented in many museum collections including J.Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Brooklyn Museum; New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki; Fondazione Fotografia, Modena; The Museum of Photography, Seoul and Helsinki City Art Museum. 

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