Designer

Kaisaleena Mäkelä

For Mäkelä, a piece of jewelry was a small portable object whose meaning takes shape with the wearer

Kaisaleena Mäkelä (1963–2011) graduated as a silversmith from the Institute of Design in Lahti in 1991 and continued her studies in Hungary, Japan and Germany – among them at the Hiko Mizuno Jewelry College in Tokyo. She completed a Master of Arts at the University of Art and Design Helsinki in 2008. Mäkelä worked as a designer for Kalevala Jewelry from 1993, for eighteen years in all.

Mäkelä was a designer deeply versed in mythology and symbolism, and in her work ancient subjects met the present day. She drew her creative strength from nature, and she valued working ethically. Her hand is recognisable in even the smallest details of the pieces she designed.

”A piece of jewelry can begin from an insight that suddenly surfaces, from an original idea found in the depths of a library, or simply from wondering at nature,” Mäkelä once said. She hoped that through her jewelry she could bring more joy into people’s lives.

Mäkelä's most extensive work as a designer for Kalevala Jewelry was the Alkuaika series, whose mythical animal figures she modelled after archaeological originals. Among them was the beloved Kalevankarhu – the Kalevala Bear – which returns to the anniversary collection as a reinterpreted classic. Pieces like these are still worn as bringers of luck, as symbols that give strength, or as a mark of the wearer's character. As an independent artist, Mäkelä had a studio on Harakka Island, whose artist community was important to her. She designed unique pieces, photographed and wrote, and gathered influences for her work from her travels. In 2002 she made a series of three Bird Books from patinated copper roofing sheet. One of them belongs to the artists’ book collection of the Rikhardinkatu Library in Helsinki.

The Kalevala Bear was once held in great reverence,

being half human kin,

half forest spirit.

And so the one

who wore the mark of the bear

held sway over both people and nature.

Kalevala Bear – a classic designed by Kaisaleena Mäkelä

The Kalevala Bear that Kaisaleena Mäkelä designed in the 1990s returns to the anniversary collection as a reinterpretation. It suits wearers of every age, children included, and works well as a parent–child pair. Drawing on northern mythology and the earliest roots of the Kalevala, the Kalevala Bear is a power animal and an amulet – for yourself, or as a gift for the important moments in life. Every piece in the anniversary collection carries Kalevala Jewelry’s 90th anniversary stamp.