ASI Presents “Eyes as Big as Plates”

MINNEAPOLIS, MN—This summer, the American Swedish Institute museum and cultural center will host Eyes as Big as Plates, a surreal photography series that showcases people immersed in their surroundings, transforming them into living sculptures within their landscapes. On view from June 20-October 25, 2026, this photography exhibition will feature over 30 portraits from the series, telling a larger story of how people around the world interact with and are impacted by the environment. Finnish-Norwegian artists Riitta Ikonen and Karoline Hjorth have mapped encounters with flora, fauna, and fungi across five continents. 

Eyes as Big as Plates started out as a study of folkloric explanations of natural phenomena in the Nordic countries and is now an ongoing collaboration exploring our relationship with the environment through humans, quite literally, immersed in their surroundings. 

“We have come to question the conventional use of the word ‘nature’, which suggests that we humans are something separate from that thing over there.” — Riitta Ikonen 

The duo shoots with an analog camera, which means that while the process can be slow and physically challenging, it also provides time for Ikonen and Hjorth to connect with their collaborators. Each photograph is taken in locations that hold significance to the person in the image: a soil farmer in a heap of warm manure, a surfer in bull kelp, a sheep farmer wrapped in wool, a soil scientist in red clay, and mycologists with mushrooms. 

“Eyes as Big as Plates invites people to come together with one another, with art, and with the natural world around us,” said ASI’s Director of Exhibitions Erin Stromgren. “There is something deeply joyful in these photographs. Their playful imagery draws you in with a smile, while each portrait reveals a relatable and compelling human story. This series also asks us to think more carefully about where we belong within our environment.” 

Alongside Eyes as Big as Plates will be an installation by Minneapolis artist Presley Martin and a short documentary, Mushroom Markers: Fomitopsis betulina, about Presley and his work by Brooklyn-based artist, writer, and filmmaker Maya Han. Presley’s work and artistic research questions commonly held assumptions about the environment through sculpture, installations, photographs, and paintings.  

The exhibition will open on June 20, coinciding with the ASI’s summer solstice celebration, Midsommar. Ikonen and Hjorth’s second book, Eyes as Big as Plates 2, will be available in the ASI Museum Store, and FIKA Café will be serving an inspired seasonal menu. 

Eyes as Big as Plates digital press kit. 

Link to Eyes as Big as Plates exhibition page. 

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