Twisted Tree

Lanu Park in Lahti was built between 1989 and 1992. The city of Lahti commissioned a total of 12 sculptures from Olavi Lanu to be placed in the deciduous Kariniemenmäki forest. The starting point of the sculptures was the body of work Lanu created for the Venice Biennale in 1978, entitled Life in the Finnish Forest, in which he explored the relationship between humanity and nature in various ways. Cast in concrete at the Renkomäki gravel pit, the sculptures in the park imitate natural materials. Blending in with their surroundings, the sculptures were all sited by the artist himself.

Olavi Lanu (1925–2015) was a visual artist, teacher and prominent figure in the Lahti art scene.

The impressive Twisted Tree in Lanu Park is a concrete sculpture reaching a height of over five metres. Blending into its arboreal environment, the monolithic work depicts a tree trunk that transforms into a pillar of human figures as it rises upwards. Clambering atop each other and vigorously twisting, the figures seem to embody great life-giving power, energy and growth. Impressive and dramatic, the work derives its visual power from the free arrangement of round and soft forms, a tight cluster of bodies rising up like a flame. Lanu’s models for the tree were students from the Lahti Art Institute as well as people visiting his studio, including a neighbour’s son, Teemu. The artist got the idea for the work from a tree growing in a neighbour’s yard, the branches of which were twisted into knots.

Artwork on the map

In Lanu Sculpture Park. – Kariniemenpuistotie 49, Lahti.
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