Wing Cradle (2023)

• In Collaboration with:
• Erland Cooper (Soundscape)
• Zainah Adnan (Testimonials)

Weaving together myths and politics with ecological concerns, Wing Cradle connects the migration of birds with testimonies relating to lived experiences of human migration. The work draws upon the deep relationships that humans in many cultures have with birds. In Finnish mythology, for example, migratory birds journeyed each winter to a place called lintukoto, a warm, safe haven at the edge of the world where sky and earth meet. They travelled there along the Milky Way (linnunrata, in Finnish, meaning literally ‘bird-track’).

In Karelia, archaeologists once found a child buried on the wing of a swan. Developing this image and its wider resonances, Wing Cradle incorporates harnesses from a horse involved in a war between Finland and the Soviet Union as well as a feathered structure made by the artist’s mother Salme Hökkä, and aunt, Terttu Hökkä, identical twins and artisan textile workers. The structure incorporates thousands of white feathers (by-products from the manufacturing of down jackets and duvets), hand-stitched onto cotton to create a talisman of protection and love.

Commissioned by Art Walk Projects - https://www.artwalkporty.co.uk/project/wing-cradle/