Roots: Kustaa Saksi’s Monumental Installation at Institut finlandais

Finnish artist Kustaa Saksi has transformed the Institut finlandais in Paris with Roots, a breath-taking 15-meter installation that suspends a woven gnarled pine tree in mid-air, its snow-laden branches and exposed roots creating a fractal-like structure that dominates the space. On view through February 21, 2026, the work represents a powerful evolution for the artist who is celebrated for his hypnotic jacquard weavings and pattern-based explorations of altered consciousness.

Best known for his Hypnopompic tapestry series—works that capture the liminal state between sleeping and waking—and his First Symptoms collection inspired by migraine auras, Saksi has spent over seven years at the TextielLab in Tilburg, Netherlands, pushing the boundaries of what he calls “action painting with warp and weft.” His intricate weavings, which combine natural fibres with rubber, metal, and phosphorescent yarns, have graced institutions from the Victoria and Albert Museum to the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, earning him the prestigious Pro Finlandia Medal in 2023.

With Roots, Saksi scales up dramatically, creating his most site-specific and emotionally resonant work to date. The tree represents an interpretation of käkkärämänty—a twisted pine shaped by harsh conditions. The installation is created using jacquard weaving techniques and delicate Japanese washi paper yarns, bridging Finnish and Japanese aesthetics in homage to the early 20th century Finnish painter Pekka Halonen. The Institut finlandais is also presenting a program dedicated to Halonen’s work in parallel to an exhibition of his work at the Petit Palais. “I wanted to explore uprootedness and the search for home,” Saksi explains of the work, which draws on childhood memories of wind-bent pines in Finland’s Gulf islands.

The installation speaks to contemporary anxieties about environmental disconnection and mental health. The tree, torn from the earth yet still alive, becomes a meditation on resilience and fragility—themes that resonate deeply for an artist who has lived abroad for over two decades. As Saksi has noted about his broader practice, “I start in a different world. I don’t know the limits,” a creative philosophy that has allowed him to approach traditional techniques with radical freshness.

For Saksi, Roots represents a profound personal turn—a monumental interrogation of belonging that asks what it means to be connected to a forest, a culture, or oneself.

Institut finlandais

@institutfinlandais

Kustaa Saksi

@kustaasaksi