Ritta Ikonen

The guest lecture by the London based artist Ritta Ikonen was an interesting insight into an artist I would not of probably looked into before I saw her lecture. Originally from Finland, Ritta's work is original and quirky, she describes some of her projects as 'performed photography' and her work involves putting materials or subjects into situations which wouldn't naturally belong there, creating an almost surreal angle to her work.

She originally studied illustration and then communication at The Royal College in London, then began freelances and promoting her own exhibitions. She talked about how her projects progress and how she prefers to get a 'real' image rather than using too much Photoshop, which is interesting as you are even more surprised by her images when you know they are taken in real situations.

The Bird and Leaf project is particularly interesting as she collaborated with the photographer Anna Schaffner and placed herself in leaf and bird costumes in natural environments but appears surreal as it is obviously a person, the images were attempting to reflect on the artists sentimental yearning to 'get back to nature'.

A lot of Ritta's work involves placing herself in the character of something else, into situations which would be natural to the chosen subject but totally unnatural as a human being, which makes you think about to understand something you must put yourself into that situation - although not literally, but this does compare to design as to understand a brief you have to get into them mindset of the brand or client you are representing.