Metal Trail

Every year, we ask Symposium participants to recommend an artist for the next year and this time was no exception. Thierry Lauwers recommended Risto Immonen from Finland. The latter, after consulting Lauwers, accepted our offer and promised to participate in 2016. The visualisation of his work which he sent us already included a colour finish. Upon arriving at the venue, he immediately picked a site next to the big power hammer.

Risto Immonen is a truly versatile artist, who can work with both metal and wood, and even holds his own art symposium in Lapland. His versatility was proven by the fact that he performed in Prague with a choir shortly after the Metal Symposium.

During the Symposium, he exhibited a maquette of the future statue. This was very interesting to visitors, who could watch how the work was being transformed into the desired form in the hands of a skilled artist. On the Wednesday, he announced that he expected to complete the work the next day and would need to paint it. We went to buy paints on the Thursday, Risto Immonen painted the statue and, on the Friday, the work called "Bow" was complete. Meanwhile, he could not decide on the shape of the pedestal for his work. Eventually, he used a piece of sheet metal.

Risto Immonen was probably one of the oldest participants in the Symposium. His art is of high quality, which is confirmed, among other things, by the fact that he received a Lifetime Award in Finland in the autumn of 2017.

Find the artwork on GPS: 50.4174689N, 14.9049136E 

For more information on this artist see:

https://www.facebook.com/risto.immonen.37