AN EXPLORATION OF ROOTS, LONGING, AND MYTHOLOGY
As a descendant of the Finnish immigration to Northern Norway in the late 19th century, Rannveig Mietinen has grown up with a strong connection to Finnish culture. In connection with her residency period in Vantaa/Helsinki in May 2026, the artist entered a month-long period of immersion under the title Kaipaus - the Finnish word for longing.
Mietinen grew up in a Kven and Norwegian-Finnish family in the Vadsø area of Norway, characterized by a deep love for Finland and an inherited longing for the motherland. As an artist in Vadsø today, this kaipaus - this innate Finnish longing - is a driving force in her expression, spanning sound, visual arts, and her sensory project involving handmade sauna products, Ruijan Sauna. Following her studies at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki, as well as her further background in foreign countries, the encounter between belonging and alienation has strongly shaped her artistry.
The residency in Vantaa has been rooted in a search for her own origins. Focusing on Finnish and Sami mythology, nature mysticism, and the concept of "sisu" - Finnish resilience - the artist has spent the time investigating how this heritage still resonates in everyday modern life. Through work with painting, photography, film, and sound, this was an intense period characterized by exploring the connection between historical longing and her own upbringing in the Kven/Norwegian-Finnish and Sami environment of Vadsø.
In her work with mythology, the artist has combined conversations with older sources and experts on folklore and Finnish and Sami traditions, as well as studies of historical texts such as Mythologia Fennica and Castrén’s lectures on Finnish mythology. As a more modern entry point to the material, the artist has also utilized Susanna Salo’s Kalevala Tarot, which has been a useful resource for exploring how ancient stories can be interpreted today.
For the work on her roots, the artist took her own family tree as a starting point, which shows 85 percent Finnish ancestry. The ancestral lines were mapped by plotting the geographical origins of her forebears on a map of Finland. This formed the basis for a five-day road trip from Vadsø to Vantaa, during which the artist visited the places her family originates from. Along the way, she collected material through photography, film, and audio recordings. With a special focus on documenting the various rivers that characterize the Finnish landscape, she explored her family's origins by the Iijoki, Kemijoki, and Torne (Tornionjoki) rivers. These great rivers have been lifelines for the families through generations, but are also strongly linked to superstition and mythical narratives.
On the journey, she acquired a kantele and a shaman drum, which have been used for recordings of the soundtrack for the film part of the project.
The project culminated in a solo exhibition at Gallery Gjutars in Vantaa, presenting the artist's exploration of Finnish roots and mythology through paintings, photography, film, and objects.
The ongoing project will further be developed during a residency in Porvoo, Finland, in February 2027.
