To Ilkka Virtanen art is a fundamental human quality that can foster a sense of belonging. All humans have an innate desire to create, to think differently and to look at things from different perspectives, and to leave a mark.

Virtanen’s sculptures are fossils and skeletons of the future, hybrids of humans and other vertebrates. In palaeological terms, belonging is a crucial question: does the human species belong to this place? According to Virtanen, our species runs the risk of no longer belonging unless we change our behaviour towards nature.

Born in Jyväskylä in 1963, Ilkka Virtanen lives and works in Kangasala. Early in his career he created drawings, prints, slideshows and videos. For the past twenty years he has been a sculptor.