Iana Lang’s awarded bachelor’s thesis deals with seasons in art
Iana Lang’s bachelor’s thesis name is The Magic of the Seasons: A Year Cycle through the Eyes of Music, Photography and Visual Arts. Lang, who hails from Ukraine, was very pleased and surprised of the award.
“This feels incredible. It was a huge success for me that my bachelor’s thesis was chosen to the contest. I am grateful to all who supported and helped me, especially my thesis supervisor Senior Lecturer Risto Kyrö and my husband Dima Lang.”
In her bachelor’s thesis, Lang established why seasons are such an interesting topic for artists. The work tells about Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s life and his work The Seasons, among others. Lang searched for common features in seasons-related music, visual arts and photographs. The work also includes Lang’s artistic part in which she plays the Seasons piano series on video.
“Finnish is not my mother tongue and thus I decided to choose a semi-artistic topic to demonstrate my competence through both writing and playing piano. The Seasons has always interested me. This was a good opportunity to learn about it properly and play it myself.”
Lang has studied photography for a couple of years and thus her teacher suggested that she would take nature photographs for the work.
“I have mainly photographed people and nature photographs did not feel natural to me. That is why I decided to use my own photographs of people. I later got the idea of using nature paintings because it combined Tchaikovsky’s music and the photographs.”
The jury describes Lang’s bachelor’s thesis as visual, innovative and personal, among other things.
“My high interest in the theme makes the work personal. I really enjoyed practising the Seasons series and photography is also my passion. I completed the work to increase my competence and knowledge, not just to have the credits.”
Good planning skills and husband’s support helped
Iana Lang lives in Kouvola from where she has travelled to Tampere due to her studies for four years. Alongside her studies, she has taught piano playing at North Kymi Music Institute and she is also a mother of four children. There has been plenty to do but Lang’s thorough character and good planning skills were useful in studying and the bachelor’s thesis work.
“I started to prepare for my bachelor’s thesis in good time. I read the books in advance, made notes, photographed diligently and practised playing the Seasons series.”
Lang was nervous about asking museums for permissions to photograph the paintings. It sometimes took a long time but in the end the needed permissions were granted. A challenge was to videotape the piano performance and edit the video, which took a lot of time for one person.
“Fortunately I have a great family. Without my husband Dima, the thesis would not be so good. He supported and took care of matters so that I could study in peace.”
The Ukrainian war, which broke out in February, touched Lang deeply. At the moment, her mother, sister and sister’s child are in Finland but some of her family members are still in Ukraine. Despite the worry, she still managed to put effort into her bachelor’s thesis.
“When the war began, I was not able to do anything for a couple of weeks. However, I soon understood that I do not have to think about the war all the time or bring it to my home. The bachelor’s thesis was my salvation because it took my thoughts elsewhere. I however have stayed in touch with my family members who live in Ukraine.”
Lang has already planned her future after graduation.
“In the near future, I will concentrate on my family and work. I would also like to give some concerts. Further studies are also possible as studying and continuous competence development are natural for me. I have already found out how to become a Suzuki teacher.”
Read Iana Lang’s bachelor’s thesis here (in Finnish):
https://www.theseus.fi/handle/10024/749960
Text: Emmi Suominen
Photo: Dima Lang
