Terhi Heino, Sami Lukkarinen, Maiju Salmenkivi, Minna Suoniemi, Aleksi Tolonen
Mid-Life Crisis Retrospective
7.-29.12.2019
B. 1970, b. 1972, b. 1972, b. 1974, b. 1976. We are all middle-aged. This stage of an artist’s career is often celebrated with a mid-life retrospective. The Mid-Life Crisis Retrospective will challenge this milestone. We approach the crisis-related themes in different ways. Maiju Salmenkivi explores different layers in her work and Sami Lukkarinen focuses on children created by artificial intelligence, while Minna Suoniemi examines changes in the body. Terhi Heino’s works are drawings and collages created using plants that have fallen off an herbarium. Aleksi Tolonen uses trash materials to create a house that reflects uncertainties.
The exhibition and its theme developed from discussions with friends and colleagues. We regularly have lunch together and we talk about everything, not just art. We all seem to be struggling with new challenges that we haven’t faced before – exhaustion, break-ups, loneliness, limits of coping, depression, pain, income problems, disagreements with partners and children.
We have talked about this exhibition for a long time. This group, with a slightly varying composition, has held three group exhibitions (2005, 2009 and 2013). This is our 15th anniversary exhibition. We feel that this is the right time to hold the Mid-Life Crisis Retrospective. Now we have a reason to have lunch together more often.
Terhi Heino: I use loose plants from old herbariums in my drawings and collages, in which I apply the same self-adhesive paper tape technique used in the original herbariums. My working process starts with examining the structure of the plants and the marks they have left on the paper, as well as the patterns formed by random combinations different plants. Sometimes there can be found photographically clear “plant imprints” that time has created on the pages of the herbarium. In addition, my work has been inspired by the places where the plants were originally picked. S.O.S is a collage that examines the themes of light, time and transience from the perspective of the environment and the individual.
Sami Lukkarinen: The Children of Artificial Intelligence, 2019- , is an installation with 54 pictures artificial intelligence “StyleGAN” has generated, old photo frames and bookshelves. The children in the photos do not exist. StyleGAN is considered as a first Artificial Intelligence that can generate infinite number of perfect pictures of humans. It is created (Dec. 2018) by Finnish researchers Tero Karras, Samuli Laine ja Timo Aila working in NVIDIA. StyleGAN is trained with ffhq dataset (70000 pics from Flickr). In order to find the pictures for the installation I have looked through 31000 pictures StyleGAN has generated.
Maiju Salmenkivi: My life is like a home library in which the stacks of books tend to pile up in corners. Each stack covers its own subject matter and falls down if it grows too tall. I have a stack on everything, for my thoughts, my body, my studio, my friends my relationships. Sometimes the stacks are temporarily packed away into bags that are thrust into the corners of my studio, my home or my head. My husband calls my closets black holes because things tend to disappear into them. But sometimes things find their way back from these black holes inside my house and inside my head. During the last few months I have put a lot of thought into all these physical and immaterial layers and sediments in my life.
Minna Suoniemi: In Exposures of a Middle-aged Body I use my middle-aged body as material and examine what embodied knowledge could mean looked through hormonal change. I have worked with analogical photographic practices using estrogen gel, body lotions, honey and various beauty products applied directly to the skin and then printed on the photography paper, which is then developed in the darkroom. I’m intrigued by the materiality of human body and the print of that materiality which I’m not able to fully control. I apply estrogen gel on my skin and it directly affects by body and mind. In this act I find similarities to the darkroom process.
In my new Video work Witching I have worked with 8 mm film material shot 10 years ago in Seili island and music composed by my 9-year old son. The bucket development process has left it’s marks to the film, which is full of under and over exposed frames, scratches and dust. On the film transferred to video one can vaguely see a woman dancing in the sea. 10 years ago I was this uncontrolled and excessive female body, now my middle-aged body is torn by hormonal turmoil. We approach hormonal transition, puberty and menopause, in sync with my 9-year old son.
Aleksi Tolonen: As an artist uncertainty is second nature to me. I make and display my art and stand behind it but insecurity about its level and necessity bothers me. I am simultaneously confident and insecure. Like many artists my attempts to make something meaningful fall short, once a piece is ready I know I could have done better. Somehow I always lose track of what I was supposed to create during the process. Despite a failing track record, until now I have always believed that if I just try one day I will finally succeed, create that good piece of art. But as I get older instead of shrinking, my insecurity has grown making me seriously doubt the point of being an artist. To be or not to be an artist, a complicated and messy question to answered worthy of a messy piece of work, a messy house.
Terhi Heino (born 1970 in Oulu) graduated from the Department of Sculpture of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2001, and she has also studied architecture. She uses natural materials, organic waste and biodegradable materials, such as fish fins, used tea bags and cellophane, out of which she creates sculptures and larger abstract installations that comment on the transience and fragility of the individual and the environment. www.terhiheino.fi
Sami Lukkarinen (b. 1976) graduated from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts (MFA) in 2001. Since then he has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions. Sami Lukkarinen is known for his pixel portrait painting series. His works examines the relationship between digital image and painting as well as the new possibilities artificial intelligence opens to the visual arts. Sami Lukkarinen´s works are in the collections of several museums and foundations, such as Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, HAM and the Saastamoinen Foundation.
Maiju Salmenkivi (b. 1972, Espoo) graduated from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts (MFA) in 2003. Since then she has exhibited widely in solo and collective exhibitions in Finland and elsewhere in Europe. Her works are represented in Finnish collections, including EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, and the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation Art Collection.
Minna Suoniemi (b. 1972) is a Helsinki-based artist working with lens-based practices. She has worked on subjects such as gender roles, body, questions of class, motherhood, family and micro histories. Suoniemi has exhibited internationally in Europe, United States, South America and Asia and her work is represented in Finnish collections including EMMA, Kiasma and the Finnish State Art Collection. Since 2014 Suoniemi works as University Lecturer in Aalto University, Department of Art. www.minnasuoniemi.com
Aleksi Tolonen (b. 1974) is a Helsinki-based artist who graduated from the Fine Arts Academy of Finland in 2005. Since then he has been working as a independent artist and has had several private and group exhibitions in Finland and abroad. His art has handled various themes from popular culture to masculinity and often includes humour. Aleksi Tolonen is versatile in his techniques choosing to work in the technique best suited for the work; in his exhibitions you may find anything from paintings to installation.
The exhibition is supported by Art Promotion Center Finland.
terhiheino(a)hotmail.com
lukkarinensami(a)hotmail.com
maijusalmenkivi(a)yahoo.com
minna.suoniemi(a)gmail.com
aleksitolonen(a)yahoo.com
