Annu Vertanen: Mirror of Life, 2004. Photo: HAM/Yehia Eweis. Mirror of Life Artist Annu Vertanen Toivolanmäki, Mikkolankuja 6, 00680 Helsinki Indoor Sculpture Limited access: the work is available to view for the users of the premises only. Annu Vertanen (b. 1960, Imatra) created two large prints for Toivolanmäki. Entitled Mirror of Life, the woodcuts are printed on thick Japanese paper made by hand from kozo fibres. Vertanen has composed the works from irregularly shaped spots of colour, with a metallic net-like pattern overlaying certain parts. The metallic patterns are made by burnishing metal leaf onto an oily surface. The pattern in one print is silver, which darkens over time; an intended effect. The pattern in the other print is made of white gold. The key qualities in both works are lightness, airiness, layering and subtle tonality. The framed prints are hung in the stairwell, whose walls are painted a pale yellow selected by the artist. The work was produced under the Percent for Art programme, and it belongs to the collection of the City of Helsinki, managed by HAM Helsinki Art Museum. At map
