DonKalervo

A gaze born in the Northern light

There are artists one discovers through their work, and others who inspire a desire to understand the origins of their vision.

Photographer DonKalervo belongs to this latter category. His work is rooted in the landscapes, light, and silences of the Finnish archipelago, yet it extends far beyond mere landscape photography. His series explore light, memory, space, and that strange sense of suspension evoked by certain horizons.

Here, the KerLuxY Gallery invites you to discover his world through his own words.

The Painter of Horizons

A photographic series born of a fascination with the light of the Finnish archipelago.

En février 2021, j’ai fait un voyage au plus profond de l’archipel finlandais. La lumière des champs de glace des îles

In February 2021, I traveled deep into the Finnish archipelago. The light reflecting off the ice fields of Jurmo Island stirred a profound emotional experience within me, akin to what is know as “Stendhal syndrome”. That was the moment the idea to share my vision of dreamlike landscapes was born.

Back home, I recalled a Finnish saying: « Taivaanrannan Maalari », literally “The painter of horizons”. The expression refers to a dreamer, someone who gazes at the horizon and imagines what lies beyond it.

All my horizons are shaped by the light of the southwestern Finnish archipelago, from early spring through late autumn. I capture them from a boat, during those moments when friends and I bask in the luminous phenomena of the North.

I recognize two experiences, deeply rooted in the human soul, that bring us comfort and a sense of security: gazing at the horizon and watching a campfire. Through my art of horizons, I wish to share that feeling, an art of silence and hope.

Western Horizons series

In the West, the light is more dramatic, more expressionistic. In the “Western Horizons” series, I am particularly interested in red light. This exploration of color and light led me to work on the series “A Distance from a Star”.

For my first exhibition, organized as part of the Blue Days and The Art for the Oceans project, I wanted to pay tribute to one of the great composers of our time, Kaija Saariaho, who lived and worked in Paris. I began by studying light on a cosmic scale, just as she did in her music. This marked the genesis of the “A Distance from a Star” series, which was exhibited in Veules-les-Roses, Normandy, during the summer of 2023.

Redshift: in astronomy, the term “redshift” refers to the phenomenon where light from distant galaxies shifts toward lower frequencies, specifically toward the red end of the spectrum, compared to light emitted by closer celestial objects. The greater the redshift, the mode distant the observed galaxy. For me, this astronomical concept became a way of conceptualizing light, distance, and vastness.

The Kustaanmiekka Series

This series is a tribute to my childhood and to a family history deeply intertwined with the Helsinki archipelago.

During the Second World War, my grandfather came to the islands of Suomenlinna to help clear Russian army mines. He remained there after the war, and my mother was born there.

Later, she met my father, who served in the navy. From early spring through autumn, before heading to work in the morning, my father used to fish for whitefish in the waters of Kustaanmiekka for the Helsinki market. It was in the light of June 1967 that I was born.

Kustaanmiekka is named after the Swedish King Gustav. It is also known as the “Gibraltar of the North”, as every ship arriving in or departing from Helsinki must pass through this narrow strait.

This series is, therefore, also a way of returning to that intimate landscape, a place shaped by the sea, light, memory, and family history.

Gentle Moon Series

I began the Gentle Moon series in late 2022. My aim is to capture and experience as many full moons as possible. The concept is still evolving and has not yet been fully realized.

Finland’s winter moonlit landscapes are stunning. At night, the moon illuminates the snow-covered fields, transforming the scenery into a world bathed in a magnificent blue light.

To the human eye, the moon often resembles a hard stone reflecting sunlight; its light can appear either warm or cool. I wanted to reveal a different kind of moon: a gentle, almost dreamlike one. Bringing out this softness helps convey the hypnotic, mysterious feeling I experience when gazing at the snowy landscapes of the North.