Markku Kosonen

Statement:
"The important aspect of my work is the ability to express things; craftsmanship alone is not enough. The purpose of a work such as this is to appeal to one's emotions. For me, arts and crafts entail a spiritual processing of material, linking humanism to objects.

I often start to make a basket by relying on old traditions, but before long I start to raise the rim toward strange themes, to the horror of ethnographers and master basketmakers. What begins as an ordinary utility object soon turns into a creative work.

The heritage of willow objects is a continuum in which I represent the contemporary aspect. It is no longer of any significance to make traditional utility objects of willow to that same extent as in the past.... A new function is to be found in the symbols of the object, the tales and messages which the maker leaves of his personality. This is known as expression."

from Weaving the World: Contemporary Art of Linear Construction
Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan 1999.

Selected permanent collections and exhibition venues:
Helsinki Design Museum, Finland; Röhsska Museum of Design and Applied Art, Gothenberg, Sweden; Museum of Arts and Crafts, Hamburg, Germany; National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden. Exhibition venues: Museum of Applied Art, Frankfurt, Germany; Museum of Applied Arts, Helsinki, Finland; Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan; American Craft Museum, New York, New York; Artek, Helsinki, Finland: Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan; Finnish Consulate, New York, New York; Morris Museum, Morristown, New Jersey. Recipient: 1-, 5- and 15-year Artist's Grant from the Government of Finland; Alvar Aalto Foundation Prize; Pro Finlandia Medal.