Katja Syrjä Johansson

Katja Syrjä is a visual artist (MA), who lives and works in Aland Islands, Finland.

She is working with fine art printing, painting, photo and installations. Her works of art deal with historical, environmental or scientific aspects of a place or a particular plant. She has participated in the cross-disciplinary art-science projects.

Essential in Katja Syrjä’s art are process-oriented practices, like gardening and making own color pigments from nature. She prepares her color pigments from plants, mushrooms and minerals. She uses adhesives like egg, fish roe, blood and gum arabicum. The practices of medieval and Renaissance art guides her work with local natural items and products.

Currently, I have extended my artistic activities to the submarine realm of Åland. I am working with the common eelgrass (Zostera marina L.), the bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosusL.) and the stonewort (Chara tomentosa L.), which are the key species in the Baltic Sea seabed communities. These species host a wide range of arthropods and fish species and are indicators of water quality.

Katja Syrjä has studied in Turku School of Fine Arts, Finland, Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki, Finland(MA) and stone lithography in Sweden.

She has had private and group exhibitions, mainly in Finland and Sweden.

Her works are found in the Collections of Finnish State Art Commission, The Helsinki Art Museum, HAM and Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art, Turku City Art Museum in Finland; and Västeros Art Museum, Haninge Art Hall and Eskilstuna Art Museum in Sweden.