Grey stoneware clay

21cm H x 11cm W x 10cm D

One-of-a-kind

2019

From her Stockholm studio, sculptor and designer, Kristiina Haataja, developed a style all her own titled Ancient Cubism – a hybrid of Ancient Greek sculpture and Post Modern Cubist form. ”My aim is to keep the lines and shapes simple, to show a fragile expression that can also be sublime for the spectator. I want the different characters’ positions and extensions of their figure to give a feeling of calm and peace,” explains Kristiina.

By creating expressions of the human body through clay, sand and papier maché, Kristiina taps into the Cubist style of working with rough, tactile surfaces, deleting details so that the natural textures follow the form creating a desire to touch the figures, explore their surfaces, as one would a body.

“Since I am a believer, thinker and dreamer, my art is quite inspired by these subjects and I categorise my sculptures by these characteristics: dreamers, daydreamers, thinkers, listeners, lovers, and their names are of Italian, Greek or Hebrew origins so that they have symbolic meaning.”