Satu ja Maria Tani are both a working pair and siblings, whose work Hengittävä riutta (Breefing Reef, 2019-2022) is a continuation of a childhood play. “In playing, we created our own worlds with their requisites which we could enjoy for hours. Roles brought safety to both of us to speak about anything.” The sisters have created art together since 2018. Their work TraumaWear was presented in the Forum Box gallery. Maria Tani (b. 1986) is an outsider artist and makes art at the Studio Aula. Maria Tani is a versatile artist, who also makes imaginative crafts ranging in size from tiny miniatures to multimetric crocheted jellyfish. Maria Tani almost always draws “out of her own head”. Maria Tani’s rich imagination expresses itself in art. Maria Tani has a background in artisan studies in the field of gold at the Järvenpää department of the Disability Institute. In addition, Maria Tani has attended the Northern Savonia Folk High School as well as basic art education for many years. Maria Tani received an honorable mention from the Kaarisilta Biennale in 2021. Maria Tani’s works have been presented in exhibitions in Finland and abroad.
Satu Tani (b. 1984) is a visual artist (YAMK / Master of Culture and Arts) and works as an art coach in a supported art studio. Satu Tani graduated as a visual artist with a degree in media and video art in 2011 from Saimaa University of Applied Sciences (nowadays LAB). In 2019, Satu Tani completed a Master’s degree in visual arts at the same institution. Since 2017, Satu Tani has worked as a permanent art director in supported art studios.
OAF curators’ comments: “A really splendid piece of art! I look forward to experiencing the final artwork and performance. The performance describes what it is like to breathe in the ocean when the seas get polluted. Really touching drama. It is amazing how, in the process of immersion in performance, inorganic knitted objects acquire life, breath, become mobile and organic, merging with the plasticity of the body and harmonizing space around. The performance shows an original way to combine nature and culture by creativity and one’s own body.”
Satu and Maria Tani’s artwork Breathing Reef is presented as performance and as part of the visual arts group exhibition at HAM Corner and as video work at the Virtual Gallery. More information:
