Lelia Byron, Following the Thread, 2022

Murals at the water pumping station in Kaunisjärvenpuisto park and electric transformer station in the end of Pormestarinkatu. Unveiling ceremony on 25th July.
Papermaking workshops at Seppä's House 26th July.

Residency June–July.
Lelia Byron (US)

Lelia Byron got to know the Rauma lace tradition while working with school children at the RaumArs artist residency in 2020. Inspired by that, she returned to the residency and has now interviewed and photographed lace makers and created murals at Rauma Energia's electrical transformer station and Rauma Vesi water pumping station. 

In the murals, Byron uses lace-making as a metaphor for social fabric; it connects people, generations and is a continuation of traditions. In addition, it follows the "thread" of her previous project in Rauma and is part of a long chain of both bobbing lace traditions and her works.

Byron's work has been supported and the materials sponsored by the Finlandia Foundation, USA.

Byron is a multidisciplinary artist who creates paintings, murals, sculptures, installations and public art projects. Her most recent works include e.g. a public sculpture made of plastic waste in Madison, Wisconsin; narrative installation made with school children at the Rauma Art Museum; a series of paintings of women coffee farmers in Colombia; a mural documenting local stories in a square in Sicily; outdoor sculptures made of recycled plastic in the Portuguese countryside and a series of paintings of Massachusetts workers fighting for workers' rights. Byron holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master of Fine Arts from Chelsea College of Arts (University of the Arts London).