The Weight of Stone and Wood Eemil Halonen began his hands-on relationship with material in the woodworking schools of Lappeenranta and Lapvesi. There, the grain of the wood and the resistance of the timber likely shaped his early understanding of form. He eventually moved toward the more permanent discipline of sculpture, studying under Emil Wikström at the Finnish Art School. His hands learned to navigate the hardness of granite and the softness of wood, a skill set that would define his long career in Finland. His work often felt tied to the earth and the people who lived upon it. In Lap…