Finnish artist Elsa Salonen examines our relationship to nature in a poetic manner. Salonen's works emerge out of her artistic interpretation of ancient alchemical knowledge. In her art, she activates animist rituals and magic practices once believed to have been lost, asking questions about our relationship to the environment. " ...] a profound act of listening to the world is made available to us as Stories Told by Stones ...] enriches the millennia long encounter between humans and stones. ...] the transformation of stones into pigments and of pigments into art in no way diminishes their ability to communicate. Rather, the respectful relationship of the artist and the stones transforms our own encounter into an audience with some of our oldest kin. This is animism at its most life- and world-af?rming. - Graham Harvey