Miia Rautiainen: The Light Of the North
The story behind the exhibition
When I was a child, a wonderful magical world began right behind our backyard — the forest, where I often wandered alone. There was the fairies’ map stone, its surface covered with patterns woven by mosses and lichens. There was a decaying tree stump whose horn lichens the woodland creatures would blow into in the mornings.
Ever since then, nature has accompanied me everywhere. As a teenager, I read nature poetry and painted; later, I began writing nature poems and other literary texts of my own, and discovered nature photography and hiking. Together with my camera, I have traveled through the North, photographing forests and lakes, the ocean and the fells. In the Lofoten, I became enchanted by the sea, which in some magical way felt like a continuation of the forest of my childhood.
The stark beauty of the northern landscape, the vast openness of the fells, and the wildness of the Arctic Ocean make me breathe more freely, and that is why I eventually moved to Sevettijärvi to escape the noise of the city. Here I rediscovered painting and started making nature-inspired jewelry art. My watercolors draw from the nature of Sápmi and the light of the North, while my jewelry is inspired by the rhythm of the northern seasons. In the watercolours, the smallness of humanity within the grandeur of nature is also emphasized: humans are merely a part of the whole, not its master. For me, there is something deeply comforting in that feeling.
I have received great inspiration for painting from the Italian artist and engraver Claudia Casaletti, whom I came to know through the printmaking workshops I attended with a friend at Kongsfjord Engraving Atelier in Ekkerøy (Vadsø). Her intricate graphic works combine Arctic nature, fantasy, and humor in a uniquely captivating way. Claudia’s spouse, Giorgio Cappelletto, is a wood artist who creates beautifully rugged frames from driftwood and timber salvaged from old shacks along the shores of the Arctic Ocean.
My friendship with Claudia and Giorgio sparked the idea that I wanted them to frame my works. I feel that Giorgio’s natural and distinctive frames complement my watercolors and their nature-inspired themes beautifully. Claudia and Giorgio have carefully selected individual frames for each of my works — frames that, at their best, seem to continue the image itself and extend its story.
Claudia and Giorgio are holding an enchanting summer exhibition from May 1 to September 27, 2026, at Kjeldsenbruket, a former fish factory that now serves as a fishing museum in Ekkerøy.
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