Tarja Heikkilä has found the core of her expression in the birch twig – a material that is at the same time durable, modest, renewable, and expressive. She has her home and work in the naturally beautiful surroundings of Ilola, in Eastern Uusimaa.
Tarja Heikkilä has had a long career working with twigs; she has held courses in Finland and abroad, organized exhibitions, and published three books. All of this has developed interesting expertise in the use of natural materials. In her exhibitions, Tarja wants to show how worthless material can offer enormous possibilities and give its user a new and exciting way to create. Over the years, everyday twigs have turned into incredibly fine works of art – trees, stumps, daylight, and various shadows give me strong aesthetic experiences, she says.
During Konstrundan visitors can take part in her exhibition at the Pernaja Agricola Museum, Pernajantie 197. – Luutarhasta lustitarhaan, from graveyard to pleasure garden – The meeting between the birch twigs and Mikael Agricola's language.
The exhibition connects the words of Mikael Agricola, the father of the Finnish language, with the rugged beauty of Finnish nature. The exhibition's name, Luutarhasta lustitarhaan, from graveyard to pleasure garden, is a direct tribute to Agricola's neologisms; even though Agricola's words did not survive, they carry a strong symbolism.
Tarja Heikkilä wants to combine local history, Agricola's legacy, with the treasures of the nearby nature through her works.