Under Sun and Stone: A collection by Sanna Annukka
After spending many long days in the studio throughout spring and summer, Sanna Annukka presents a new collection of paintings exploring elemental form via a process of layering, carving and mono printing.
When viewed up-close nearer, the bold compositions rendered in a subtle mineral palette give way to the intricacy of pattern and patina. It is perhaps, only then that one realises the surfaces are worked rather than painted.
Under Sun and Stone explores moments of sacred presence in nature: the reflection of the moon across the sea, or the stillness of a blue rock pool. By reducing these experiences to simple, symbolic forms, the paintings take on an almost reverential, pre-verbal quality, drawing on the enduring power of symbols and archetypal forms shared across cultures and throughout history.
Whenever Sanna leaves the house a protective talisman is traced on the door; the hannunvaakuna is an ancient Northern European and Finnish symbol historically believed to provide protection against evil spirits and misfortune. These sacred motifs continue to resonate deeply and form the soul of many of Sanna's compositions. Among them are compositions that echo the lozenge-shaped drums of northern European shamans; monumental forms recalling prehistoric henges, where upright stones become thresholds or pathways; and divided suns or crescent moons that allude to seasonal cycles and the equinoxes.
Sanna's practice is inspired by a distinctly Scandinavian tradition that placed little importance on the boundaries between art, design and craft, allowing ideas and forms to move freely between them. It is a tradition rooted in a profound attentiveness to nature, material and making, where beauty and everyday experience were understood to hold meaning in themselves.
By building up many layers of colour using a printing process over carved marble polymer, Sanna creates a complex patina and relief that evoke weathered stone, pitted glacial ice or lichen. The result of this self-invented process is a subtly sculptural relief painting that invites the viewer to look more closely. Across these organic surfaces play decorative patterns inspired by carved wooden curios and the folk tradition of embellishing everyday utilitarian objects. In these traditions, decoration was never merely ornamental; it transformed the ordinary into something treasured, enriching daily life through pattern, symbolism and storytelling.
Sanna’s paintings are an ode to mother nature and a reminder to slow sown and witness oneself here and now – standing under the sun.
