Kaarina started out as a painter, but felt like drawing wasn’t challenging enough, and wanted to make her art more physical. Her work crosses the boundaries between sculpture, installation and architecture. She uses all kinds of recycled materials to create her work such as craft paper, potato sacks and second hand clothes.
Her work benefits from being easily approachable, as it tends to deal with issues that most people will encounter in their everyday lives such as social change, the effect of natural disasters on individuals and religious themes. Kaarina is an internationally recognised artist and has held solo exhibitions in Brussels, New York and Malmo.
Her most talked about work, Way, ensconced the steps leading up to the Helsinki Cathedral with men’s jackets in 2000. Using men’s jackets has become somewhat of a trademark for Kaarina, as she often links back to her parents by using her own deceased father’s jackets within her work.
http://www.fact.co.uk/news/blog/2010/08/25/liverpool-biennial-2010-kaarina-kaikkonen
