Eyes as Big as Plates 2

• Presenting poetic portraits of people in their milieus and the interweaving of human existence with natural surroundings
• Travels to Tasmania, South Korea, and Senegal, among others, reveal a global perspective

In their remarkable art project Eyes as Big as Plates, ongoing since 2011, the two artists Karoline Hjorth and Riitta Ikonen explore the relationship between humans and nature. To this end, they have travelled the world and created portraits of 52 people in diverging landscapes.

The resulting series of photographs presents people whose age is typically over 50, wrapped in artistic, almost living sculptures made of the most diverse natural materials that Hjorth and Ikonen collected from the subjects’ surroundings: their floral, faunal, and fungal cohorts.

The sensitively shot photographs open up new aesthetic worlds full of playful effortlessness that convey a strong message: We are nature!

For the Norwegian-Finnish duo, it is not just about a successful photographic image. This second volume of the series,

consolidates these atmospheric portraits with concise descriptions of those portrayed, who, rather than remain solely as props in the picture, present themselves and their life stories. The Field Notes section compiles further photographic material composed around the portraits. The artists offer insights into the portraits’ process of creation, and provide us with the opportunity to accompany the artists on their journeys.

Riitta Ikonen & Karoline Hjorth have collaborated since 2011 on publications and projects including Eyes as Big as Plates (ongoing), The World in London (2012), Time is a ship that never casts anchor (2014-18), Signal, Lights, Connected for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics (2018), TEDMED Talk 2020, and Finnskogen Understories (ongoing). Finnish artist Riitta Ikonen received her MA from the Royal College of Art in 2008. Norwegian photographer, artist, and writer Karoline Hjorth received her MA from the University of Westminster (London) in 2009.