Siiri Pohjolainen
Luckily I Found a Green Tongue!
21.6.–14.7.2019
Siiri Pohjolainen’s works have been created out of playfulness, a love for materials and the joy of trying and discovering. Spreading throughout the gallery space, Blue Waves consists of wavy cells with surprises and an abundance of starting points hiding behind them: ombre dyed yarn from a childhood stash, a wooden pallet that was found, an office chair, pieces of an old painting and engobe ceramics…
Pohjolainen’s works find their shape through some kind of spontaneous experimentation as well as chance, compression and concentration. Certain materials make it possible to look for a free form: the twisting of yarn, squeezing of clay and one’s thumb print on the clay. At the same time, they link the works to the long tradition of handicrafts. Pohjolainen’s works are characterized by the free meandering of materials, yet they are forced into a certain shape by gluing, cutting, sewing or burning.
The exhibition also contains references to Pohjolainen’s background as a painter: it is embedded in the works, but the form has escaped the confines of a frame and a brush has been replaced by scissors. Painting is still present in the fabric that has been colored with acrylic paints, washed and sewn, in the shredded filling of a hamburger or in the pedestal-like element holding the work.
The associative and collage-like way of working frees Pohjolainen from mannerisms and repetition. Other essential elements include emotions and the personal undertone of art. The artist’s own memories as well as materials that have been kept and worked on for a long time are rediscovered in the works completed during the past year.
Life is always incomplete. In the meantime, may the material be as important as the thought and may the work be as important as the end result.
Siiri Pohjolainen (b. 1979) lives and works in Helsinki. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in 2017 and completed her painter studies at the Free Art School in 2004. Pohjolainen works with varied paintings, sculptures, textile works and installations. Earlier this year her art was on display at Galleria Oksasenkatu 11. Pohjolainen’s works are included in the collections of the Finnish State Art Commission, the Kone Foundation and the City of Tampere.
– Laura Gelmi, MA
The exhibition has been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland / Arts Council of Uusimaa.
Further information:
siiri.pohjolainen(at)gmail.com, +358405113361
https://youtu.be/X4Woe7NzF34
