Sculptor Katri Paunu works on the threat of water in her artworks - we visited the Rauma Art Museum exhibition with the flood activist

Flood is the theme of a solo exhibition by sculptor Katri Paunu. Flood activist Jukka Tuori is used to seeing the power of water through different eyes.

The Rauma Art Museum exhibition features water as an element in many of the sturdy ceramic works. It steams or flows on the surface of the sculpture as a waterfall.

A young woman presents a ceramic work of art that stands on four legs in the hall of the art museum. — Sculptor Katri Paunu lives in Pyhäranta, Southwest Finland. Her work Poimu hides a surprise.

In the flood, water is metaphorically abundant, but also threatening.

– On the other hand, water is the elemental broth of life. The idea inspires me, Paunu describes.

The diverse perspectives on water fascinate him.

Take a boat to school during a flood

The name describes him well: his flood experiences started as a child. The flood cut off the school road between the two lakes in Suodenniemi, today’s Sastamala.

– Sometimes in the spring the lakes would flood together, so we went to school by boat. It was quite normal, he says.

Since then, Tuori moved to Satakunta Huittis. Among other things, he became a farmer whose fields are located near the Punkalaitumenjoki, a tributary of the Kokemäenjoki. Flood monitoring became a regular part of life.

– Nature stops. You can’t beat the power of water. In practice, flood protection means that all actions must be taken in advance.

On both sides of Kiemurainen's sculpture there is a viewer: an old man and a young woman. — The decay of trees, interprets Jukka Tuori. Inspired by Katri Paunu’s work Mahla, they discuss the importance of decaying wood for insects.

The art theme and practical flood protection find new perspectives in the encounter between the artist and the flood activist. Tuori recognizes nature disciplined by flooding water in ceramic sculptures.

For Katri Paunu, the flood sensitivity of the Satakunta region and especially Pori is a new thing.

– The information made an impression. Possible flood areas are so close to us.

He has thought a lot about rising sea water, climate change and nature while putting together the exhibition.

Threatening chaos or a new beginning

Katri Paunu’s first stopping memory of the flood is the Boxing Day 2004 tidal wave.

– I was a schoolboy at the time, but the natural disaster made a deep impression.

Now the interpretations of the abundance of flood water have been refined into a versatile sculptural art.

– When I think about the power of nature, my thoughts always include the social and ecological level. The flood is a threatening chaos, but also a fruitful beginning of something new.

On both sides of the gate-like ceramic work is a person: a young woman and an old man. They are looking at the camera. — In Katri Paunu’s Gate, you can also see the effect of water on plants.

Jukka Tuori remembers that the floods in school books mostly remind of the descriptions of the Nile floods, thanks to which agriculture flourished in ancient Egypt.

– True. Looks familiar from school. Now, in my thoughts, the flood is connected not only to fertility and a new beginning, but also to the extreme phenomena of nature, Paunu says.

What does Jukka Tuori think about the flood right now?

He believes that this year we will be spared big floods in Finland, at least in the south.

– On the other hand, I often wonder when the next big flood will come. It usually comes around every hundred years.