Timo Suvanto was born in Lapua in 1941. He started out as a casual sculptor and experimented for 13 years before attending formal courses at Orivesi College between 1967 and 1972. He became better known in his native Finland as a producer of large-scale public works. In 1993, he founded Lutinvintti, his sculpture studio in Tiistenjoki, where he creates his commissions and private work. Since 1970 he has been an art teacher at the Lapua Adult Education Centre.
Nature is a major source of artistic inspiration in Suvanto’s works. From the natural stones he employs to the organic shapes he sculpts, a poetic reflection on nature’s silent immutability yet ever-changing cycles shines through his minimalistic works.
His vernacular is naturally local and Finnish, but also specifically from Lapua. Rooted in his context – both natural and cultural – Suvanto has created around 100 artistic tombstones spread all over Finland since 1983. He illustrated the Tiistenjoki village book in 2001, designed the 1995 competition logo for the Lapua Kaleva Games and has created a dozen pennants and several dozen logos, signs and book covers. He is also a member of the Finnish Sculptors’ Association, the Ostrobothnian Artists’ Association and the Lapua Artists’ Association.
Suvanto’s first exhibitions were the joint exhibition of the Lapua Artists’ Association’s annual exhibition and a solo exhibition at the Seinäjoki City Art Gallery, both in 1977. Since then, he has organised 20 solo exhibitions and participated in over 100 group exhibitions in Finland (Helsinki, Oulu, Turku, Orivesi-Purnu, Seinäjoki, Lapua), Sweden, Russia and Germany, among others. The Lapua Art Museum held a retrospective exhibition of his work entitled Through the Gray Stone – Works over the Years in 2010.
His most notable public works include: Pillars of Freedom (1994), Laurila Park, Lapua; Shell sculpture (2002), Närpiö; Monument to the Battle of Äyräpää (also called the Monument to the Fighter of Nurmo) (1999), Nurmo, Seinäjoki; Common Pain – Cartridge Factory Explosion Memorial (1985), Lapua; Boxes of Faith and Knowledge – Lauri Ingman Monument (2009), Teuva; Monument to Church Builder Antti Hakola (1998), Alahärmä, Kauhava; Monument to Esko Nikkari (2015), Lapua; Vuosalmi Black Angel, 2020, Peräseinäjoki; Gate of Heaven, Nurmo, Seinäjoki.
Suvanto lives and works in Tiistenjoki.
