NEWS from the Augsburg College News Service

Minneapolis -- Blending ancient and modern in both medium 
and subject matter, Ritva Luukkanen is a visual artist and poet 
whose stone mosaics encompass stories from the Kalevala (the Finnish 
epic poem), landscapes, portraiture, and religious subjects. Luukkanen 
will be in residence at Augsburg College, Minneapolis, during October 
and November for a showing of her work in the Alumni Gallery, Christensen 
Center, 720 22nd Avenue South, Minneapolis. The exhibition runs from 
Friday, October 17 through Wednesday, November 26; an opening reception 
will be held Sunday, October 19 from 3 to 5 p.m. in the gallery.

Luukkanen's career as an artist took a curious turn just over 20 years 
ago, when she found herself cradling a piece of stone in her hand and 
began to contemplate its potential as an artistic medium. She found a 
hammer and some glue, and fashioned her first stone mosaic. Since then, 
she has used tons of native Finnish rock to create highly-textured, 
detailed mosaics that can take up to 3 years to finish and use as many 
as 60,000 pieces of stone. "The rock conquered my soul," she says. "It 
spoke to me. It has the same strength I do."

The works are very different from traditional mosaics, which Luukkanen 
has studied in Ravenna, Italy. They are roughly textured, yet display an 
unexpected range of colors and nuances. Luukkanen's themes blend myth and 
folklore with her love of the natural world and, occasionally, her 
ebullient sense of humor. Her portrayals of scenes from the Kalevala are 
rich in detail and heroic action, her landscapes are often lyrical and 
sometimes stark, and her religious works are infused with her own sense 
of the connection between nature and spirituality.

Of her unusual medium, Luukkanen says, "In stone is power and something 
primordial. One need not try to say something with it. It speaks for itself 
in a picture; there is already a presence."

Luukkanen lives in Pirkkala, outside the Finnish city of Tampere. The 
showing of her work at Augsburg is part of her first US tour, although 
her stone mosaics have been widely seen throughout Europe. After the 
exhibition in Minneapolis, the work will travel to the Finnish Embassy 
in Washington, DC. The US tour is being sponsored by the Finnish government 
and the Finlandia Foundation.

In addition to the exhibition and opening reception at the Christensen 
Center, Augsburg College will present "Up Close with Ritva Luukkanen," 
hosted by the Nordic Center, on Thursday, October 23 at 7 p.m., 
2400 Butler Place on the Augsburg campus. The artist will discuss her 
work, read from her writing, and lead a gallery tour.

All events are free and open to the public. The exhibition and accompanying
programs are sponsored by Augsburg College, the Nordic Center, and Finnish 
American Cultural Activities, Inc. For further information, contact Jeanne 
Lakso, Fine Arts Coordinator, Augsburg College, at 612/330-1279.