Makers

The Queue: Janne Peltokangas

Janne Peltokangas is a Sámi artist based in Finnish Lapland. In The Queue, he shares about his homeland and its culture, some of his favorite artists, and how memory and intuition guide his work.

Interview by Shivaun Watchorn
September 5, 2022

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The Queue

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Photo by Leo Palmer

Janne Peltokangas.

Janne Peltokangas forms hot metal into sculptures inspired by his ancestral lands.

Janne Peltokangas draws upon his Sámi heritage and homelands in his raw, inventive metalwork. As a child, he made his own toys out of wood and helped his family repair buildings and fishing nets. But when he tried blacksmithing, he says, “I fell in love when I hit that hot metal with a hammer and saw it change shape.” Using traditional blacksmithing techniques, Peltokangas shapes iron from old engines into new forms reflecting the Arctic landscape that surrounds his home and studio in Finnish Lapland. His iron sculpture Sieidi No. 8 is featured in “Fine Folds” in the Fall 2022 issue of American Craft.

How do you describe your work or practice in 50 words or less?

I’m a material-based artist whose work is influenced by my Sámi roots and the nature of Lapland. I use traditional blacksmithing techniques to create work that is made from salvaged iron.

Photo courtesy of the artist

Sieidi No. 10, 2021, iron and silica, 18 x 27 x 24 cm.

Many of our American readers may not be familiar with Sámi culture or homelands. Tell us about where you’re from.

I’m from northwest of Finnish Lapland, about 14 miles from the Swedish border. It’s the southern part of Sápmi land. My house and workshop are on an island that is surrounded by fells and rivers. My family has lived on this island for well over 500 years.

In the Fall 2022 issue of American Craft, you say, “I use the plasticity of hot iron to create multilayered forms that relate to my Sámi ancestry and my home region’s flora.” Give us an example of how you do that.

I forge-weld stacks of iron together and forge them into a shape that follows the movement of iron throughout the process. Intuition and memories will tell me when I have reached the end and I can lay down my hammer. Pretty much by not thinking when I work.

What’s one of your go-to / favorite tools in your tool kit that the world should know about?

My forging hammer that I made for myself after the rehabilitation of my arm. I designed it for my measurements and style of working.

Photo courtesy of the artist

Sieidi No. 1, 2019, iron and silica, 17 x 16 x 5 cm.

Photo courtesy of the artist

Sieidi No. 7, 2021, iron and silica, 28 x 14 x 14 cm.
Photo courtesy of the artist

Sieidi Cikna No. 3, 2021, iron and silica, 3.4 x 1.4 x 5.3 cm.

If today you could have any craft artist’s work for your home or studio, whose would it be and why?

Dmitry Zhukov’s Personal Universe No. 5. It has beauty, depth, roughness, solitude, peace, and pure presence in it that I haven’t seen in any other artwork so far. Zhukov’s work is an endless source of inspiration and hope for me.

Which artists, craft exhibitions, or projects do you think the world should know about, and why?

Again, Dmitry Zhukov, Rick Smith, Zdzislaw Beksinski, and Urmas Lüüs. These people are elevating art and craft to new heights and showing what is possible if you dare to dance with your muse.

Photo courtesy of Nikola-Lenivets Art Park

Dmitry Zhukov, Personal Universe No. 5, 2016, steel, 2.5 m x 2.8 m.

Shivaun Watchorn is associate editor of American Craft.

Check out more of Janne's work online.

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This article was made possible with support from the Windgate Foundation.

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The Queue: Janne Peltokangas

Janne Peltokangas forms hot metal into sculptures inspired by his ancestral lands.

How do you describe your work or practice in 50 words or less?

Many of our American readers may not be familiar with Sámi culture or homelands. Tell us about where you’re from.

In the Fall 2022 issue of American Craft, you say, “I use the plasticity of hot iron to create multilayered forms that relate to my Sámi ancestry and my home region’s flora.” Give us an example of how you do that.

What’s one of your go-to / favorite tools in your tool kit that the world should know about?

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If today you could have any craft artist’s work for your home or studio, whose would it be and why?

Which artists, craft exhibitions, or projects do you think the world should know about, and why?

Check out more of Janne's work online.

Before you go!

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The Queue: Janne Peltokangas

Janne Peltokangas forms hot metal into sculptures inspired by his ancestral lands.

How do you describe your work or practice in 50 words or less?

Many of our American readers may not be familiar with Sámi culture or homelands. Tell us about where you’re from.

In the Fall 2022 issue of American Craft, you say, “I use the plasticity of hot iron to create multilayered forms that relate to my Sámi ancestry and my home region’s flora.” Give us an example of how you do that.

What’s one of your go-to / favorite tools in your tool kit that the world should know about?

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If today you could have any craft artist’s work for your home or studio, whose would it be and why?

Which artists, craft exhibitions, or projects do you think the world should know about, and why?

Check out more of Janne's work online.

Before you go!

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