2025 Artists' Residency

This year’s residency brings together two artists with distinct practices: Makiko Furuichi and Agnes Questionmark. Working across drawing, sculpture, and diverse material processes, each artist responded to the Finnish Kalevala mythology to shape their own mythological narratives.

Makiko Furuichi (3 June – 8 July)
During her residency on Sarvisalo, Furuichi drew from both Finnish Kalevala mythology and the Japanese Kojiki—the earliest chronicle of myths describing the creation of the Japanese archipelago. Out of these traditions, she composed her own creation story of the island, unfolding through successive transformations: bird, tree, wind, and an army of ticks. Her works entwine cultural mythologies with the Finnish landscape, animating Sarvisalo through fantastical characters that embody the mysterious and multifaceted forces of nature.

The resulting works will be on exhibition at Frac Normandie for the artist's solo exhibition Walking on one's head through March 2026.

Agnes Questionmark (17 Aug – 20 Sept)
Agnes Questionmark’s residency examined our condition as hybrid beings, situated between human and non-human, terrestrial and aquatic. From these references, Agnes developed a new series of wall-mounted wax reliefs during her time on Sarvisalo. Produced through a unique process—sculpting clay forms, casting silicone molds and pouring pigmented wax—the works merge biological reference with abstraction, embodying themes of transformation, otherness, and the porous boundary between species.

The resulting works will be on exhibition at Frankfurter Kunstverein as part of Anatomy of Fragility – Body Images in Art and Science through March 2026.