Kylänpää Hannele - Äiti-Lappi (1989)

Standing about 7 metres tall in the courtyard of the Lapland provincial government building, the mythical Äiti-Lappi, or Mother Lapland, is sculptor Hannele Kylänpää's first public work.

Kylänpää uses bronze as the primary material in her pieces. Her material handling is very expressive and nuanced, and accommodates and supports her subject matter well: Kylänpää enjoys depicting motion, children and animals in different situations.

The premise of the sculpture is lightness and airiness, and the artist wants to overcome the heaviness of bronze as a material. Although the sculpture is large and made of a heavy material, it is light and vibrant in shape - the thin stem seems to disperse the mass to almost nothing.

The sculpture was acquired by the State Art Commission on the initiative of the Lapland provincial arts committee. The committee invited Hannele Kylänpää to design the sculpture and gave her free artistic rein.