Aino Johansson

Aino Johansson (Aino Mielikki Maa) is a multidisciplinary visual artist, performance maker and environmental educator, who operates at the nexus of art, ecology, sustainability and embodied knowledge. Deeply interested in natural and old growth forests as sacred places of connection and their ecology, with a particular focus on  soil, moss and lichens, derived through voluntary forest inventory as activist practice, their work interweaves rituals, performance, material and visual elements, ecosomatic facilitation, calls to action and environmental education. Functioning as both artist and activist, Aino Johansson also holds interest in convening and calling people together, fostering collective engagement with embodied knowledge and ecological awareness derived from intimate connections with the multisepecies world. This approach, rooted in a growing understanding of natural systems, is inviting audiences to explore our interconnectedness with the environment through participatory artistic experiences. They have founded the collective Earth Forces (Maan puolustusvoimat).

 

Image: Puolijoukkueteltta, Maan puolustusvoimat (2025). Photo by Aino Johansson.