correspondence with
Liina Aalto-Setälä

Caterpillars often overwinter in the soil, and when encountering your blue ceramic caterpillar at the exhibition, one can’t help but wonder: at what stage of life are they, and what transformation are they undergoing? Who will they become? What is the story behind the blue caterpillar?

Liina: The caterpillar in the exhibition is a visitor from the future, whispering premonitions in a language unknown to us. Its blue colour is a reference to Hayao Miyazaki's story Nausicaä, where the colour symbolises the bond between human and the environment. Like our future, the final shape of the blue caterpillar in the exhibition is still a mystery.
For many species, the larval stage is the longest in the developmental cycle. It is a time of storing food and slow growth, a preparation for the future. I feel I'm in a kind of larval stage myself; I'm gathering strength for the future, gaining knowledge, accumulating skills.

We know that you have a deep understanding of Finno-Ugrian folklore, and it’s clear that invertebrates play a significant role in your artworks. What kind of role do creatures like ants play in the old stories, and how do they reflect the relationship people have had with the forest?
Liina: Certain invertebrates, such as ants, have played a special role in Finno-Ugric folklore. Ants were thought to be manifestations of gnomes, and ant hills the homes of the forest folk, known as ‘forest castles’. Sacrifices such as silver, liquor, blood or eggs were offered to the ant hills. When prey or other goods were taken from the forest, a piece of it was given to the ant hill to thank them. This maintained a balanced relationship with the forest and also ensured the continuation of hunting and foraging luck. The ant hills were thought to act as gateways between this world and the other, and were often asked to help with various magic spells.
In my work, I often deal with small creatures that have a large impact on the ecosystem for their size. These almost invisible invertebrates are like ghosts or spirits that operate outside our capacity of perception. No wonder they have also acquired supernatural connotations in folklore.
In your practice, there’s a sense of walking alongside ants, beetles, and other species, all while being acutely aware of human actions shaping the conditions of life on our planet. It feels like there’s a blending of inter-species empathy with natural scientific knowledge. What is your relationship with natural scientific knowledge, and how do you see the imaginary and scientific knowledge intersecting in your work?
Liina: My artistic work often starts with research. I read both folklore and modern scientific research on the subject I am currently working with. I am interested in the intersections between these two very different ways of perceiving the world. For example, the role of ants as a key species in the forest ecosystem has long been understood, and can be seen both in ancient folklore, and in modern scientific research.
Our ecosystems are complex networks where harmony and chaos live side by side. Modern science and intangible, non-quantifiable knowledge (such as stories) offer different perspectives that, when combined, allow us to better understand the diverse and rich complexity of our world.
You’re involved in forest activism. What role do you think art can play in political discussions about the state of forest ecosystems? How can it contribute to raising awareness or influencing change?

Liina: Art has the potential to imagine other kinds of worlds. In addition to direct activism, we also need art, culture and storytelling that help us both to perceive the reality around us and to imagine new ways of living. In the words of researcher and theorist Donna Haraway; "It matters what stories make worlds, what worlds make stories." Science can help us understand reality on a rational level, but real change happens when we can internalise it emotionally. This is where art and culture play a major role.
One of the central themes in many of your art projects is the bark beetle. Can you share the story of how they entered your life and became such a key figure in your work? What do you think the bark beetle has to say to the world? What is its 'language,' and what kind of a message do you think human beings need to listen to and understand?

Liina: Bark beetles entered my life in 2021 at the Tuo Tuo residency in Joutsa. I admired the complex carvings left on trees in one of my walks in the forest. These bark beetle larval tunnels looked like an ancient secret language, a mystery of which I set out to unravel.

Beetles often feature in the news, as they are strongly linked to both the forest industry and the climate crisis. They nest in the vascular cambium layer of weakened trees, feeding on the phloem, and thus are the catalyst of the decay process of the tree. Monoculture forests grown for wood production have a weak resistance against pests and diseases, and the beetles are able to spread uncontrollably in them. The drought caused by climate change has also played a role in weakening the natural resilience of forests. In healthy and diverse forests bark beetles are an important part of the ecosystem, but can’t spread uncontrollably or cause extensive damage. 

Despite this, the public debate does not discuss the reasons for increase in beetle population, but on the losses they cause to the forest industry. The bark beetle is an almost poetic expression of our inability to understand the effects of human destruction. I see the beetle as a kind of warning, a foreteller of future disasters, who is carving the trees full of messages that we are unable to read.
Bark beetles continue to be a part of my work in many ways, including in the form of an alphabet I made based on their carvings, called Beetlebet.

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Liina Aalto-Setälä is a visual artist (TaM) from Päijät-Häme, working in Helsinki. Her work is multidisciplinary, combining different art mediums such as anthotype (an old analogue photography technique using plant dyes and sunlight exposure), ceramics and text.

Her artistic work deals with the emotional connection between humans and the environment, based on Finno-Ugric folklore. The aim of the work is to create new relationships with old stories, and to examine them from the perspective of the modern human being. In the works Liina explores how the relationship to tradition is changing as everything around us changes with the climate crisis.
Her works have been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions across Finland, such as in Turku, Lahti, Jyväskylä, Oulu and Helsinki. Most recently, Liina’s works have been shown in a solo exhibition at the Huuto Gallery in Helsinki and at the Oulu Art Museum.
In addition to her artistic work, she is part of the Kosminen collective, which maintained an art space in Helsinki from 2016-2022. Liina is also part of the Rindamus collective formed by seven artists. Rindamus is exploring a long-term 10-year residency concept together with the Mustarinda Association in Kainuu.
Liina’s work is supported by the Kone Foundation from 2024-2025.

https://www.aaltosetala.com/