Drawings

Recently I have been taking on drawing again. I think every artists should keep up with their drawing skills as it does fade away when its not practiced regularly. I noticed that my skills are a bit rusty after a long period of focusing on learning different mediums. It is weird how I have been studying art at the university for several years now and actually haven't practiced drawing. It seems that many artists have taken drawing back in to their practice. I have always enjoyed drawing and I am glad that I started it properly again. Many of the drawings I show in this post are based on things what I seem to "doodle" on the corner of notes in the lectures or other things I draw when I am just passing time. I have plans to print these on fabric with silk screen, pillow cases maybe,-saying this I have just revealed what my christmas presents to some people might be, but I hope they are so good that it wont matter that I spoiled the surprise!

Here I want to put a comment what my tutor said which was : "It is a little bit like knitting". It has been very time consuming and detailed, but that seems to be the thing I love doing.

Crochet balls!

For a while I have been obsessively crocheting these different color balls. I didn't know the purpose for these when I started, and I have several different ideas what might come out of them. What I do know that I want to make a lot of them and then when there is a lot, they are having a life on their own.

I want to learn to do stop motion animation, so I think these crochet balls are going to be my first experiment what comes to that. So far I have taken a series of images of them and over the weekend I am going to have some fun with them.

Enjoy the colors!

Jumpers in the Cavendish Gallery.

Hello again,

It has been so busy couple of weeks, and months actually, that I have not been able to update the blog. I have also being producing more work, and only today got around to start taking photos of it. Im going to do a few updates with what is going on, just today, I hope everybody enjoys to see the images as much as I have been enjoying making them.

First in this post, I am going to talk a little bit about how the jumper project is getting on. It is definitely growing and it is getting really heavy. I needed some help to carry it from my studio to the exhibition building, which luckily was only cross the road. I am really happy how many people have been donating their jumpers for me. It has been a big help and I am also touched by the fact that so many people seem to care about my work.

In this bit would be nice to thank the people who have been donating their jumpers for me so far:

Georgie Dixon

Abigail Webster

Jennifer Lawler

Faye Scott-Harrington

Hazel Jones

Pets in Need for Vets (charity)

Tony Holiday

Today I have been putting the jumpers up in the Cavendish Gallery, where it is available to view from Monday. I put the jumpers inside walls so that a person can actually walk in it. It is a soft, warm (a bit smelly) atmosphere as some of the jumpers are a bit old, but it is really cosy. As I was putting the jumpers up today at the gallery, I felt like I wanted to have a nap in there, wrapped in a massive jumper collage. As the project has been involving the audience from the start, I want it to be exhibited as that the audience can experience it and climb in it and feel it. This is the second time now that the jumpers are exhibited, and I am excited to hear the feedback. I am still collecting more jumpers and see how big it is going to be in a few months time!

I hope as many people who can, go and see the actual piece in the Cavendish Gallery, but for those who are not going, can enjoy the pictures.

Development with the jumper project

Here is some more images after I sewed some more jumpers together on friday. I have to start think about the space where I want to show it, of which space I want to fill with them. It means that I have to start being a bit more constructive which shape the jumper collage is going to take. It has been exhibited at the university, and that was a good test to see how it works when it is hung up.

Thank you so much for the people who have contributed their jumpers for me! I need more, so if you have some jumpers, actually all sort of knitted items (such as scarfs or socks or anything, the little pieces are good for filling the odd caps here and there) can I please have them!

Kisukiskis.

Temporary Autonomous Arts

Manchester have been buzzing since Wednesday as a crowd of innovative people have been organizing the Temporary Autonomous Arts event. The old abandoned big primary school building has been taken over for all sorts of hippie and art activities. I have been enjoying my time there mainly crocheting things and painting on the walls. It is so cool to paint on the walls, you are so rarely aloud to do it, so it's like a treat!! I wish I could just go to TAA every day, but, they will be gone by Sunday. If you haven't been there yet, you should definitely go.

Here is plenty of pictures about little puppy falling asleep, couple of my paintings on the wall (Im not worried about the quality of the art work itself, it was fun!), people cooking, playing and knitting. Check out the junk fashion show preparations, and especially that blue rose on Phil's outfit as I made it. Rest of the outfit was knitted with plastic bags by Janine.

Find out more info and the secret(!) location:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=124455261174&ref=ts

http://forbiddenartsmanchester.org.uk/

Leonardo Da Vinci in the Museum of Science and Industry

The Museum of Science and Industry is having an exhibition " Da Vinci- The Genius" on 14th of November 2009- 13th of June 2010. The theme is about Da Vinci's inventions, more information about the exhibition on:

http://www.mosi.org.uk/whats-on/da-vinci---the-genius/exhibition-themes

Here is my contribution to the exhibition, the piece is going to be photographed again for the show.

It's a Cross bow!!

Houses and Cats

Hello all,

It has been a while that I have actually had the time to update my blog. There has been dissertation handing ins, new projects at the University (such as Leonardo Da Vinci Project for the Museum of Science and Industry, but about that in a weeks time). There is also such an exciting thing going on in Manchester as TAA (Temporary Autonomous Arts) which has taken my time and interest, I am still on process to make things in there and photographing the happenings, so that as well, is going to be its own chapter in few days.

I thought, I would put some crafty things up, which I have made earlier this year. They were all actually a part of the exhibition called "These Thursdays" (in Salford, From Space) where the theme was shopping. My work, including these knitted pieces was design a re-package for products that already where in the supermarket. I set this concept for myself, when I was thinking what to do for the theme shopping. I decided to go shopping, and then I bought cheap things from the Supermarket and designed fancy packaging for them and that then added more value for the pieces.

The houses and the cat are all packaging for tea.

Balaclava Images

HI again,

I wish I had the time to update this blog more often. I thought that it would be good to put some of my older work here as well, better to put it in this point when the blog is only started recently,

These images are from last February, when I did a project with knitted balaclavas. I wanted to knit something what I can wear, but at the same time I came up with an idea with a surreal photography project. If you like these check out Leigh Bowery's work as well. The contextual side of these works is all about identity and creating identities which aren't necessary recognizable to any specific groups.

Thanks goes to Richard taking the pink mask images of me and

Thanks goes to Roshine for the beautiful and skillful face-painting and taking some of the images of me, and also for the fun afternoons we had with this project.

I hope you enjoy the images.

Regards

Valpuri

Sequin leggins

I am designing sequin leggins at the moment as well. Here, I hope you enjoy the images...

Jump in to a jumper. I mean in 4. All 4 of you, all at once!

Hello Again!

I have been wanting to update this blog all week, but I have been having some technical problems to upload a video, which is a slideshow of my last and this year's work. It caused me a lot of stress, and I will overcome it in some point when I have the time to go back to it, but meaning while, I decided that I don't want that to stop me to put some more exciting stuff on.

At the moment I am collecting woolly jumpers, or anything that is knitted with yarn material, even machine knits. It is going to be a part of a bigger piece and collection of work what is still in progress. I have been sewing the jumpers together, meaning to only construct a surface, but when I had sewn four jumpers together, I thought of, what would it look like if there was people wearing it at the same time. 

It was very fun afternoon, please look at the photographs.

Big thank you goes to my lovely models

Jennifer Lowler

Elizabeth Ralph

Ellie Greenwood

Lawrence Crompton

PS. Has to be said, that a Manchester band called Doris and the Jumpers, is looking to wear one big jumper, with three head holes in it. We might work together on that. 

Dear Readers,

I started a project about a year ago,where I wanted to try to knit the distance between Oxford Road and Piccadilly.I had just moved to Manchester and I was trying to illustrate my feelings about it within these two localized points in the city. It was a part of my course work for the artcourse I am doing. However, knitting the same thing day after day, as much as I enjoyed it,seemed pointless when there was so many different projects to participate on, and when all the equipment to experimental are available in the university,so I left this project aside for a while.

I have always wanted to go forward with this project,but I am struggling with time and I was wondering, for my academic statement for the project,what other dimensions does it have? As working with Artyarn, I have discovered new ideas to go forward with this labour intensive and ambitious craft. Especially when creating very big pieces,like this big knitted roll.
So I am now asking, if you the readers, would like to contribute for this project?

The roll at the moment is approximately 40 metres long, so about 960 metres of knitting to go. The piece is about 13 cm wide,knitted with 7 mm needles with 18 stitches and two double knitting yarns at the same time.The pattern is just knitting on both sides. This doesn't mean that participants have to knit with the same materials, just trying to give the idea of the thickness of the material. Acrylic yarn was colourful and cheap enough to work for this project, and as the piece is going to be rolled on the street to measure, I didn't want to use the most dearest of materials.

Everyone who contributes should write their names on a little fabric tag and sew this on to their piece they are contributing, this way everybody gets credited for their effort. Only rules for what the piece should be like, is that its 12-15 cm wide and strong enough to be rolled on the street. This project is ongoing,until the whole distance between Oxford Road and Piccadilly has been knitted.

The project has gained some interest from the media already, such as BBC and North West Visions. 

Contributions to:(with your name and where you are from, if wanted to be credited)

Valpuri Vihriala

E-mail me to the address below, and I will either send you the address to send the piece to, OR if you live locally,we can always meet up and you can hand me the piece that way.

More information: e-mail: rusakkokeitto@hotmail.com and mark the message "Knitted roll" as I am not opening messages which I don't know what they include. Please do not send images.