JOHANNA TORKKOLA
W I N T E R S O N G
Galleria Huuto Jätkäsaari – Videokulmio
16.2.-3.3.2013
My work focuses on existential questions concerning the human psychology and the individual’s ability to persevere. Life is filled with knots, they are little journeys or rituals that you have to confront and go through. My work seeks to interpret and understand these complexities.
Recently I have been working with dreamlike and mystical atmospheres. In my new video Winter Song a strange creature is walking in a melancholic landscape of the mind. The dreamlike video portrays a solitary wanderer, who is looking for its own place and mode of existence.
The music of the video has been composed and played by accordionist Harri Kuusijärvi.
Johanna Torkkola (b. 1981) is a visual artist living and working in Helsinki. She earned the degree of Master of Arts from Aalto University, School of Art and Design, Finland in 2011. Ms Torkkola works with video art, which she combines with performance art and sculpture. Most recent exhibitions include a solo show in Gallery Uusi Kipinä, Kirnu (Lahti, Finland) and a solo show in Korjaamo Gallery (Helsinki, Finland).
Since starting at the age of seven, accordionist Harri Kuusijärvi (b. 1986) has explored accordion music with an exceptionally wide angle. He has forged a formidable reputation for performing contemporary repertoire for solo accordion, and has given concerts in several stages in Europe and Africa.
Kuusijärvi has succesfully taken part to national and international accordion competitions, being awarded the 2nd prize in 2011 in “Arrasate Hiria”, one of world’s most prestigious international accordion contests. Along with his solo career Kuusijärvi is actively working as a musician and a composer with many different groups of chamber, theater, folk, popular, jazz and improvised music.
Kuusijärvi has studied contemporary accordion with Veli Kujala, Matti Rantanen and Mika Väyrynen in the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland.
Contact:
Johanna Torkkola
044-0121525
johanna.jtt(at)gmail.com
www.johannatorkkola.com