About the artist: Nina Sederholm

Nina Sederholm was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1970. She grew up in the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, and Finland), and began her professional work in photography at the age of 17, when she was employed as a press photographer. Since then she has studied fine arts and photography, earning a B.F.A. in photography.

During her 12 years in the field she has worked in different areas (as a press and a commercial photographer, lecturer, and contest judge). She now splits her time between Finland and New York City. Presently she's working for the Finnish Museum of Photography in Helsinki (Finland) as a project coordinator for "Memory of the Photograph," a regional database of important photography collections, surveying the Nordic countries, the Baltic States, and Russia).

Different people and cultures have always fascinated Sederholm, whose international background is reflected in some of her bodies of work. “HABA NA HABA HUJAZA KIBABA” (the title comes from a Swahili proverb: little drops of water, little grains of sand, make a mighty ocean and a pleasant land) is a series of photogravures of images which capture timeless scenes in Kenya. A work-in-progress, “E Pluribus Unum” (make one out of many), comprises portraits of people from all over the world. “SILVER” is a collaboration with another artist from her own country, Finland.

Current project:

Spine
Meditative, often abstract photomontages -- close-ups of nature and landscapes incorporating the human presence from Arizona & New Mexico. This project has resolved as an installation and a book/CD-ROM. It will make its exhibition debut at the Mariehamn Gallery, Åland, Finland, in February 2000. Thereafter it will tour the Nordic countries for a year, then come to the U.S.

Completed projects
(also available for exhibition and publication):

• Silver
  Silver is a traveling exhibition with photographs by Sederholm and jewelry by Annika Eklöf. It is a collaboration between two artists from Finland. The premise of this project is the shared use of a metal that is the material basis for much of photography (in the form of silver-gelatin prints) and is also widely used in jewelry-making.
  Sederholm’s black & white photographs are nudes studies of men and women in natural settings -- close-ups of bodies, and bodies seen as elements of nature. Nature has always been a source of inspiration for many Finnish artists, as it is in this case for both Eklöf and Sederholm. The photographs function as jumping-off points for Eklöf’s one-of-a-kind, mythically oriented jewelry pieces, which are designed to decorate the human body. In this way the project represents a completed cycle.
  The exhibition was presented as an installation, mounted in the middle of each gallery’s floor space, with the boxes used for its transportation becoming part of the self-contained display structure.
  The Silver exhibition traveled in Finland, Denmark, and Norway. The opening vernissage took place in Karis, Finland, in September 1998. The show then went to Copenhagen (Denmark), Oslo (Norway), and Kautokeino (Norway). The show ended its tour in Borgå/Porvoo (Finland), Sederholm's home town, which has a rich cultural environment and is Finland's second-oldest city.
• Yellow Lemon Dry Banana
  Studio still lifes
• In Jan's Studio
  Jan Saudek nude in his private studio in Prague, Czech Republic.
• Bara Kroppar
  (in Swedish, "simply naked bodies") - nude women & men in the studio.
• Haba Na Haba Hujaza Kibaba
  Gravure images of Africa (in Swahili, the title means "little drops of water, little grains of sand, make a mighty ocean and a pleasant land").

Exhibitions

• Solo exhibitions 1999
  Gamla Kaplansgården, Borgå, Finland
  Kulturhuset, Kautokeino, Norway
  Finsk-Norska Institutet, Oslo,Norway
• Solo exhibitions 1998
  Nordiska Ministerrådet, Copenhagen, Denmark
  Galleri Zebra , Karis, Finland
• Group exhibitions 1998:
  Ludwig Museum, Cologne, Germany
  CPi, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 1998-
  Photogallery Hippolyte, Helsinki, Finland, 1998-
• Group exhibitions 1996:
  Stuart Levy Fine Art/ "Spirit in the Flesh," New York, USA
  B.Y.O. Café, http://plaza.interport.net/byocafe/gallery
• Group exhibitions 1995:
  Photo Fair (Fotomässan), Gothenburg, Sweden
  Konsthallen, Vasa, Finland
  Galleri Victor, Nykarleby, Finland
  "Nightmare" ("Painajainen" - traveling group show, Finland) - venues:
  Galleri Zebra, Karis
  Ranta Galleria, Oulu
  Valokuva Biennale, Iisalmi
  Valokuvakeskus Nykyaika, Tampere
  Victor Barsokevitsch - valokuvakeskus, Kuopio
  Laterna Magica, Helsinki
  Galleri Into, Helsinki
• Group exhibitions 1993:
  Muova, Vasa, Finland
  Nelimarkka Museum, Alajärvi
  Galleri Rotor, Gothenburg, Sweden
  Galleri Nobel: "Finnish Art Power"
  ("Suomalaista Taide Voimaa,"), Gothenburg, Swede

Publications:
ReFlex, Mexico
Fotophile, USA
American Photo, USA
Fotografi, Sweden
Photo Metro, USA
Shots, USA
Urban Desires, Internet
Zoom, Finland
Musta Taide, Finnish Photography ’96-’97
Borgåbladet, Finland
Hufvudstadsbladet, Finland
Helsingin Sanomat, Finland
Ilta Sanomat, Finland

Personal interviews:
Artur T.V. (Finland)
Radio Vega (Finland)
Västra Nyland (Finland)
Etelä Uusimaa (Finland)
Länsi Uusimaa (Finland)
Radio Extrem (Finland)
Sveriges T.V. (Sweden)
Hufvudstadsbladet (Finland)
Borgåbladet (Finland)

Work in public collections:
The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland, 1998-
Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Finnish Red Cross, Finland
UREX, Finland

Work in private collections:
Helsinki, Finland
Norrköping, Sweden
Mexico City, Mexico
New York, USA

Grants:
Svenska kulturfonden, Finland, Spine, 2000
Borgåkulturbyrå, Spine, 1999
Hanaholmen Culture Centre, Finland, Silver, 1999
Statens Fotokonstkommission, Finland, Spine, 1998
Visningsersättningsnämden för bildkonst, "spine," 1998
Svenska kulturfonden, Finland, Silver, 1998
Svenska kulturfonden, Finland, Silver, 1997

Member:
Board of Art Association, Borgå/Porvoo, Finland
International Association of Art
Valokuvataiteilijoiden liitto
Invited Artist, Contemporary Photoworks Incorporated, Amsterdam,
the Netherlands, 1998

and

Café Camera
Museonkatu 9
00100 Helsinki, Finland
Tel. 358 (0)40 5169500

Contact information:
Martavägen 1
06100 Borgå, Finland
Tel./Fax. +358 (0)19 523-0809
Mobile phone +358 (0)40 746-5699
nina.sederholm@magnusborg.fi