Caroline Kajorinne (HBFA) is a multidisciplinary artist and facilitative arts administrator from Pike Lake, near Thunder Bay, Ontario. In addition to heritage and preservation, Kajorinne explores themes of life cycles, rebirth, the collapse of time and memory – how we are all comprised of the same elements and are vulnerable to the currents of change and new beginnings. Her artistic process is driven by emotional intent, incorporating various mediums including (but not limited to) forged metal, found objects, photographs, sound, and more recently: weaving. Her physical relationship with the methods selected is integral to her practice.
In 2012 she was awarded an OAC Northern Arts grant for the “Preserving Harold Project,” which was part of a two-person exhibition “Preservation | Desire to Fill” at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery (2015), and toured through Manitoba Arts Network in 2016-17. She is an active member of numerous groups/collectives; is a founding member of Guild of Northwestern Ontario Metalsmiths’ (2013) and since 2015 has been co-supporting the development of a resilient youth sector. Currently, she is founding director of “mindful makers,” an arts collective led for + by artists/makers with mental health and/or addiction experiences in Thunder Bay.
In 2019, Kajorinne travelled to Kristinestad | Kristiinankaupunki, Finland with collaborator Tuija Hansen to participate in an artist residency and two exhibitions near the community from which their grandfathers were born. Together, they wove “Home to the River,” an artwork that combines tapestry with Finnish rug weaving techniques. To accompany the work, Kajorinne created “Water Soundscape,” projecting sounds harvested from the region. Her current / future work further expands ongoing themes, and explores her heritage through combining new, unfamiliar ways of working – primarily slow, fibre arts practices with media arts.