Johan Turi. date unknown. Untitled (probably Stállu and his wife, Luttak, on a sleigh). mixed technique (pastel, gouache and pencil, or similar) on cardboard. 17.3 x 23.5 cm. The Johan Turi Archives, Nordiska Museet, Stockholm (LA 659, No. 5, Box J1:1). Photo: Nordiska Museet. 

This intriguing image probably shows stállu and his smaller wife luttak seated on a sleigh with their equipment. In Sámi mythology, stállu is a dangerous and evil, but simple-minded spiritual figure. Johan Turi described stállu as half human and half ‘troll’ (monster) or devil. Stállu appears in various forms, resembling humans, animals, or plants.  

A noticeable feature of Turi’s version of stállu is its exceptionally large almond-shaped eyes with prominent pupils and thick outlines. The staring gaze seems to want to ensnare us, lead us into a trance. At the same time, though, the look of these eyes seems directed both inwardly and outwardly. The arrangement of what looks like a shawl and a headgear, rendered with thick lines of blue and white, augments the mystic appearance and radiating force of this strange, mask-like face. Adding to this is Turi’s idiosyncratic use of proportions. The head dominates the composition, and the sleigh seems too small for a corresponding body.  

The surroundings are also rather odd. No towing ropes are attached to the sleigh or held by its riders. They appear as if in a void, though the light beige colour of the cardboard may indicate snow. Traces of watercolour emerge from the side of the large head towards the right, perhaps from Turi’s brush. Below on the left is a dot of brown colour like that of the sleigh, but it leaves an open question. On the left, several stains of turquoise may stem from Turi’s modifications, though no traces of a brush or the like are visible. Smaller, turquoise stains are also visible on the back (verso). Has the turquoise spilled over from another object? Is it a result of some chemical reaction over time?  

The cardboard on which the composition is drawn tells a story on its own. It is irregularly torn and cut. Remnants of white paper glued on the carboard and partly torn is visible above the image. On the back, we find two printed logos which tells us that the cardboard is part of a box for a shirt, with the added prize of seven Swedish crowns.  

As such, this support is part of Turi’s physical environment. It is an objet trouvé indicating his lack of means to acquire a proper ground for his intriguing imagery (whether he bought the shirt is not known). Another fascinating effect is how the sleigh seems floating in space as if stállu – a mystic seer, with large, staring eyes and a halo of powerful, radiating lines – and luttak are entering from a hidden world. The image adds to Turi’s intention of explaining the truth about the Sámi, including spiritual values and worldviews. It is, as the Russian contemporary Wassily Kandinsky put it, a powerful demonstration of the artist’s ‘secret power of vision’. 

Essay by Svein Aamold