Who am I?
My name is
Annika Lund and I live in a small town on the west coast of Finland. I’ve
worked as a translator for 20 years, but I also have a university degree in
crafts teaching, or slöjd (see ‘sloyd’).
I have always loved crafts and art, and to learn new things, so by now I have a
pretty extensive toolbox when it comes to creative pursuits. My philosophy has
been that “if other people can do it, why not me?” and “the more tools you have
in your toolbox, the greater is your freedom of expression”. I love to make
things myself, and to be authentically me, whether it comes to home décor, the
clothes and accessories I wear, or the actual materials and tools that I use
for those things. So when AI and machine translation took over my industry and
robbed me of the things I have enjoyed as a translator (linguistic creativity
and problem solving), I turned to the other forms of creativity I have in my
life and asked myself: could I make a living as a creator-teacher instead? If
other people can…? I decided to put it to the test and created Luna C. Where
does the name Luna C come from? See Q & A!
My Journey
As a child I
fell in love with Greek mythology and the stories about the starry sky. Life,
however, took me to bigger cities with high buildings and streetlights, and the
stars were temporarily forgotten. The love for myths and stories, however,
remained with me, and with English language and literature as my main subject
and folklore studies as my second subject, followed by a craft teaching degree,
my years at Uni were some of the happiest days of my life. After graduating I
moved to Helsinki and soon got a full time job as a translator, and with that
my life as a happy explorer came to an end. After a number of years I realized
that I was screamingly unhappy, and that it was time to get back to myself. I
started a blog (Sålunda), resigned as
a translator, worked as a crafts teacher for a couple of years, and then took
up translation work again, but this time as a freelancer, in the hope that it
would free up more time for personal creative explorations – more space for
creativity, that is. By now I also knew that I was unhappy in Helsinki. There
was too much hassle and too many grey buildings there. During my last winter in
Helsinki, I went out several times at night to a place where the street lights
ended and trees took over, and I stood there for a while in the cold and tried
to catch a glimpse of stars. In the spring I moved north to a smaller town and
a simpler life. Then, in 2017, I stumbled upon an astronomy course offered by
the local astronomical society, thought it sounded interesting, and signed up.
This was a pivotal moment: as soon as the course started, space flowed into my
art journals. It was immediately clear to me that there was something about
space that touched me deep inside. I soon joined the society, started learning
more about space, discovered nebulae, and fell in love. One memorable evening I
was handed a richly illustrated book about astrophotography, and as I turned
the pages, I realized that all those colourful hand dyed fabrics that were
tucked away in a cupboard at home were, in fact, nebulae. They only needed a
bit of black space and a sprinkling of white stars to become proper starscapes.
Since that evening I have been dyeing and painting colourful nebulae, in their
own right, or as colourful backgrounds for flowers, sea creatures and other
motifs. I mix science and imagination to form a personal and symbolic universe,
often with layer upon layer of meaning.
Space and Sea
There is
something about space that touches me deep inside in a similar way that I’m
touched by the sea and water. Both are environments that are hostile to human
beings, but which we can visit momentarily if we are properly equipped. In both
environments we can experience weightlessness and floating. I’m a swimmer, and
one of the things I love about water is the ability to move in any direction
when I’m under water: doing underwater somersaults is one of my favourite activities.
I envy the crew on ISS when they “swim” around weightlessly in the space
station. I have loved fish and other sea creatures as long as I remember, and
part of their attraction to me is their ability to ‘hover’ and to move in any
direction in water. Therefore, it is perhaps not surprising that fish and
mermaids were some of the first creatures that swam into my space art. I used
to think that space is only black and white, but it contains colour and shape,
which is revealed to us by astrophotography. Similarly, the sea has colourful treasures
under the surface, which is only revealed to us if we dive down. I’m fascinated
by contrasts: light vs dark, B/W vs strong colours, big vs small, science vs
fantasy, etc. To me, space is a vessel into which I can pour a range of
different concepts. It has never been my intention to be a political artist,
but I have noticed that space holds a natural invitation to discuss bigger
questions: why are we here on this planet and what is our responsibility as the
only species around with higher intelligence and an awareness of where we are
in the universe? What is our responsibility towards our planet, other species,
other humans and ourselves? I like to see the big things in the small things,
and the small things in the big things.
Luna C - Space for Creativity
Luna C stands
for colour and creativity in your everyday life. Grey is one of the main
reasons I left Helsinki, as well as my longing for a more creative life. I
strongly believe that humans are happier and more fulfilled when they are
creators and not merely consumers. When you create something you perform a kind
of magic. You conjure up something straight out of your own head, something
that wasn’t there before, but which you yourself brought into being. At the
same time it is an expression of who you are. It is not someone else’s vision
of what you should like, do, or surround yourself with. Over the years I have
discovered that I prefer to surround myself with things I have made myself, and
which express my own personal taste and joy. I started dyeing my own fabrics
because that gave me freedom. I was no longer dependent on what I could find in
the shops, because I could create my own materials. I also like to make my own
clothes, with my own designs and details. In my art I use techniques such as sewing,
dyeing, printing, painting, drawing and embroidery by hand and machine. At the
moment I offer handmade crafts with my own designs on Etsy, and I have also
ventured into the world of YouTube, where I make short videos about my art, my
thoughts and interesting and fun facts about space. In the near future I want
to offer print on demand products, digital products and online classes. My
creativity is extremely important to me and my mental health, and I want to
help other people get in touch with their creativity as well, by inspiring them
and giving them the tools they need to express their own creativity in their
everyday lives. I believe that a creative person is a happier and more
fulfilled and generous person, and this world needs more people like that. We’re
walking around on a little mote of dust in a vast cosmic ocean, and our little
world faces numerous challenges, many of which are of our own making. To solve
the problems we’re facing, we need creative and insightful people with a bigger
perspective than short-sighted consumerism and capitalism. I want to spread
creativity, joy, beauty, empowerment, and a sense of wonder for our precious world
and the amazing universe we’re living in.