Miisa Mäkeläinen
I Cry Red, I See Tears
15 August–8 September 2024
I have been thinking about eyes. The fact that my eyes are the same ones I opened when I was born and will close when I die. Until then, I will blink them a little more than an average person blinks their eyes. I see connections between eye functions and various weather conditions. Rain, fog and the sky colored red by the sunset.
It is easy to drown in some people’s eyes. I feel like using various terms of endearment to describe them. I must immerse myself in the language of love. You are my kitty-cat, starry eyes and the apple of my eye. A weirdo, cutie and soft spot in my body. You are a couch potato, coward and muscle neck. A meathead and greenhorn.
It is definitely possible to see things that do not really exist. It is possible to see warning signs. Sudden outbursts, spouting body fluids and inherited personality traits. Get-to-know-you games and mysterious disappearances. Cotton candy and funeral flowers. I have seen a blue tiger on the dance floor.
I have ranked body fluids in order of importance. I have sorted them by color. I have ranked the fluids from the most pleasant to the least pleasant. I would preferably bathe in tears. When I open my eyes, the day starts, and when I close my eyes, it is nighttime. Sometimes I cannot even tell which things in my paintings are those I have seen with my eyes closed.
Miisa Mäkeläinen (b. 1992) lives and works in Helsinki. She graduated from Free Art School in 2021 and is currently attending the master’s program in fine arts at the Academy of Fine Arts. Mäkeläinen’s works have been included in the Finnish Art Society’s art lottery, and they are also included in private collections and the Finnish State Art Commission’s collection. Emotional reactions and the bodily responses they trigger, contradictions, wordplay and the horror bubbling beneath a joyful surface fascinate Mäkeläinen, at least for now.
Thank you
The University of the Arts Helsinki Foundation has supported the exhibition.
Contact information
www.miisamakelainen.com
Instagram: @miisamaari
