Tommi Matikka
This Fire Burns Us Inside
12.9. – 30.9.2012
Galleria Huuto Uudenmaankatu
Artists have become superheroes who save us from private transport and obesity, but struggle with existential heartache, shame and guilt in their own loneliness. Who saves the superhero if he saves everyone else? Did our city just burst into flames or was the bed already on fire when I lay down?
Tommi Matikka’s (b. 1983) works show both the surprising nature and grayness of everyday life. Everything is overshadowed by the end that is constantly coming closer and closer. Death, love, freedom and great emotions never leave you alone. Is it even worth talking about anything else in art?
The main theme of the works is a burning feeling of life, the difficulty of observing it, a feeling that disappears when you try to reach for it. The works cover the entire spectrum of exploring existence, moving away from intimate storytelling of videos towards more objective memory recordings, objects hanging on the walls, allowing the characters in the videos to continue their adventures and gain new meanings.
The This Fire Burns Us Inside exhibition consists of video art, a short film and stereo images interpreting the world of the videos. The stereo images are three-dimensional drawings, romantically hazy memories made up of several transparent layers.
Matikka uses the stop motion animation technique extensively in his works. The exhibition includes the short film Dead Burning City (2012), a joint project with Maria Matikka, combining video and traditional animation techniques.
Espoo-based Tommi Matikka graduated in visual arts from the Satakunta University of Applied Sciences. His works have recently been seen at the Titanik Gallery in Turku and at the Young Artists 2011 exhibition in Kunsthalle Helsinki. In June, Matikka returned from the Turku Artists’ Association’s residency in Senegal where he spent six months running an experimental video workshop.
The exhibition is the second part of Matikka’s solo exhibition trilogy. The first part, Dying With Your Eyes Open, was held at the Titanik gallery in Turku from 28 June to 15 July 2012. The final part of the trilogy, Squeezed Between Two Worlds, with Maria Matikka can be seen at Galleria Rajatila in Tampere later this year (13–31 Oct).
The artist will be available at the gallery on weekends and by appointment.
For more information and interview requests:
Tommi Matikka, tel. +358 (0)40 773 1181, tommimatikka(at)gmail.com
The exhibition has been supported by Cartes – Centre of Art and Technology Espoo.
Tommi and Maria Matikka’s website:
www.togetherforeverstudio.com
