Sculptor Merja Pitkänen’s sculptural group Pearls is made of steel, a material that alludes to the possibilities of technology. At the same time, its forms, reminiscent of water droplets or shoreline stones, evoke nature and environmental values.

Using industrial material-processing techniques, the artist has challenged the forms and volumes that the laws of physics normally give to droplets of water. The enormous, heavy steel forms appear simultaneously fragile and massive. They can be interpreted as symbols of the importance of the River Aura and the sea to Turku.

The steel surfaces of the Pearls reflect their surroundings and change according to the weather and lighting conditions.