Paula Puoskari
Escape Garden – Vines of Hope
6.–15.3. and 2.-18.6.2020
The thought of a garden as an oasis and refuge is common to different cultures and has existed throughout human history. In Islam, a garden symbolizes paradise. The Japanese culture highlights the importance of a garden as a place for meditation. The idea of using images to transfer the illusion of a garden into an indoor space was familiar to the ancient Egyptians thousands of years before the common era. The wall paintings in the ancient Roman Villa of Livia almost magically make the illusion of a garden available for modern people to observe.
In my Escape Garden installation, I examine the visual representations of the concept of a garden by means of contemporary art. The exhibition space will turn into an enormous room-sized paper garden. A tropical garden running wild is my frame of reference. Through associations, even the floor of an old machinery hall may, in the exhibition context, resemble the tile path of an Islamic garden. The painting and installation processes related to the paper garden are an extension of action painting and in situ work.
The second part of the project’s name – Vines of Hope – emphasizes the role of a garden in maintaining hope and underlines the key content of the exhibition. The importance of hope is highlighted at a time when the fragility of life is most concretely visible. At both private and global level, signs of hope help people carry on and perhaps do something to build a better tomorrow.
The role of a garden as a place of hope and comfort is, in addition to esthetic experiences, ultimately based on the cycle of nature and its regenerative ability. Even a picture of a garden helps transport us to that real place where we have experienced nature. The exhibition also asks us whether representations are enough to bring us comfort if the original subject of a picture is damaged and loses its regenerative ability.
The second part of the Escape Garden project, which will be displayed later, has been influenced by Renaissance gardens with well-thought-out interaction between the geometric shapes of the gardens and the surrounding landscape. The aspect of hope will also be approached from a new perspective. Escape Garden II will be on display after a residency period in Italy.
Paula Puoskari is a Helsinki-based artist. She is a member of the Finnish Painters’ Union and the Helsinki Artists’ Association. After graduating from the Free Art School in 2008, Puoskari has held solo exhibitions almost every year and regularly taken part in group exhibitions in both Finland and abroad.
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Photography by Jussi Tiainen
