SEB and EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art have established a long-term art collaboration, in which a series of the museum’s new collection works will be featured in SEB’s lobby. SEB’s business is guided by a strong belief that creativity, innovation and the ability to see the world in a different light are key components in creating a better world. EMMA is a museum that creates powerful art experiences and brings art to the places where people move and operate.

Elina Vainio (b. 1981) is an Helsinki based artist whose works discuss themes that spring from the relationship between nature, the material environment and man. The installation constructed from sand brings to mind an environment where human traces are a relic from the past.

Vainio’s works challenge us to think of the consequences of our actions and what we are leaving behind for the future generations.

The work alludes to the cycle of materials and the man-made environment which is partly durable and partly temporary, disappearing with time. On the one hand, the gold bar -like shape questions what we consider valuable. On the other, sand – an apparently inexpensive and endless material – has surprisingly become an important global commodity.