Why the name Aniko Sunset? When I studied fine art casting and the graduation exhibition was coming closer I was considering not using my long hyphenated surname but having to find some other name – a more descriptive one. Searching for information about prayer wheels I found myself at pages telling about an ancient founder named Aniko. Of course the person was male but suited me, my own forename being Ani. The “ko” suffix in Finnish language is interrogative hence the name Aniko comes with a wonder – is it true, has Ani started to do something like that? Sunset originated from me starting to make artworks on the already descending side of my lifespan and the only downward but positive thing coming to my mind was sunset!

During my artisan studies I was allowed to try for example forging but it was not my thing. Casting was the one which felt right away more familiar. Stone and glass combine in my opinion extremely well with metal in artworks. In my Calendar artworks I wanted to achieve also the possibility of change. Moving the disks under the magnifying glass allows changing of the artwork and so its visual freshness remains; at the same time one can show the current month if one wishes to do so.

Surface treatment of metal interests me. I am continuously looking for new ways to achieve it. In my Ray platters I tried already during my studies a completely new way to "paint" patterns on the copper surface. The experiments take a lot of time and sometimes "hunting" the chemicals is the most difficult part, but the final result makes it worth while.