Artist brings the sea to renovated Kamppi metro entrance

A 28-metre artwork depicting the sea now circles the ticket hall wall at the renovated western entrance to Helsinki’s Kamppi metro station, which opened on Monday, Yle reports. The blue work, titled Meren jano (Thirst for the Sea), was created by Helsinki-based artist Anna Niskanen, who hopes it will offer passers-by a moment of calm.

The sea images were photographed in Suomenlinna. The work was produced with the Helsinki Art Museum using the cyanotype, or blueprint, printing process. The original print is part of the museum’s collection.

“The sea, and especially the Baltic Sea, is very important,” Niskanen said. She hopes people will stop to look at the piece and feel calmer for a moment.

Further nature-themed artworks by Niskanen will be installed in the reception areas of the Kamppi health and wellbeing centre, which is due to open next year. Together, the works trace layers of Finnish nature, from the sea up through water and land to the starry sky.

The artworks were commissioned under the percent-for-art principle, which calls for at least one per cent of the construction costs of a publicly funded building to be spent on art. Niskanen said the principle was important.