Ru Runeberg a symphony in silver

Who is Ru Runeberg?

First of all, he is one of the last remaining professional silversmiths in Finland. He has, with a large portion of humor, created his very own style combining two very traditional materials, silver and glass, in a new fresh and creative way. The result is a lovely family of insects engaged in various tasks.

Ru Runeberg is a descent of Finland’s national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg and his son the sculptor Walter Runeberg so it is no wonder that he has inherited a strong sense for both story and form.

Ru always had an interest in creative work. After high school a career in interior and furniture design was high on the wish list. However, destiny put him in a community college for arts and crafts with silversmithing as main subject. – It clicked immediately, and I practically lived in the workshop for the duration of the education. My teacher noticed my devotion and suggested to me to apply to the art university Konstfack in Stockholm. I applied and by some miracle I was accepted immediately. It is very common that people apply many times before they get through. As a result of that I was one of the youngest students in my class with my 22 years of age.

Glass and insects

– During my studies I was intrigued by the thought of adding elements of colour to my work to lighten up the beautiful, but very grey, silver. In my final BFA piece, a foldable “Pandoras Box”, I experimented using plastics. However, the different heat expansions in these materials proved to be an obstacle. This experiment led me to the idea of exploring the possibilities of working with glass as well.

When it was time to do my work practice, I decided to contact a Finnish design legend Oiva Toikka who previously had taught glass design at Konstfack and ask him if he could help me. Luckily, he responded favorably and asked me if I would be interested in becoming his assistant at the famous glass factory I Nuutajärvi. This period opened a new world with the secrets of making glass. This period of four months tha obviously went well resulted in that I was contacted by another famous glass designer Markku Salo who hired me as assistant for the next two years. I was very privileged to have this opportunity to learn more while I at the same time

finished my MFA at Konstfack. Apart from learning the skills of a silversmith I also had discovered what would be my lead in my future work, glass and insects.

Time to explore

After a long period of studying Ru was temporarily fed up with silversmithing and felt an urge to explore other aspects of life. This led to a few years of adventurous projects. At first, he travelled up north to Lemmenjoki, a famous gold river in Finnish Lappland where he was manually digging gold with some old gold diggers under very primitive conditions. Experiencing hands on where the raw material jewellers are using is coming from gave him a special relationship, understanding and respect of the material. Six days of hard work with a shovel could result in three grams of gold.

After a summer of gold digging the scenery changed to Lofoten in Norway where he took work as a deckhand on a fishing boat. A rough job close to the forces of nature but the adventures didn´t end there.

During a six month long stay in Australia he worked in the opal fields of Lightning Ridge, the home of black opal, digging for raw stone. A job as hard as digging for gold but with good prospects of finding treasures. This experience gave Ru a good understanding of this very exquisite gemstone and at a later visit he continued by also learning how to cut opals. These adventures have all in their own way contributed to the way Ru sees and understands the world, and they have built a strong base for his design philosophy.

Time for silversmithing

– For me jewellery was never very interesting. Of course, I make some jewellery pieces on commission every once in a while, since they are much easier to sell than silver objects. For me it was always the unique silver objects that are my thing. In 2000 my adventurous life came to an end, and I finally settled down and started to build my own workshop. In the beginning it was hard to find customers and financing for my plans, so I had to work part time on a building site to finance my dream. Three months building and three months in the workshop. As time went by people started to recognize my style. Humorous functional sculptures in the shape of insects in silver and glass. – With time my clientele and network grew, and I was able to keep, and participate in exhibitions both in Finland and abroad. With more visibility I managed to sell more, and it became easier to get financing för my projects. Artist grants has been a very important support that has enabled me to realize my designs and dreams without having to make artistic compromises.

Future plans

– My latest project was creating a whole symphony orchestra with 64 insects in silver playing thir tiny instruments under the wings of a bird conductor. Quite a task yhat took two years of work but it ended up in a beautiful bunch of fantasy creatures like straight from a musical fairy tale. I exhibited it in Helsinki this summer and luckily the orchestra in its whole found a new home with a collector and will stay together as one piece which makes me very happy.

After working in several locations in Finland the future holds a plan of establishing my workshop in the famous glass village of Nuutajärvi from where I have acquired the old Bank house which will be renovated into a studio. Inspired by the success of the orchestra I now feel confident to go ahead with new projects that I am sure will break some boundaries compared to the silver pieces we are used to!