Artist Talk by AiR Agita Marackovska and Andris Marackovskis on Wednesday 25th of April at 6 pm

Agita and Andris Marackovski are artists from Latvia, they both have a Master's degree in sculpture from Art Academy of Latvia. Agita has also studied at École supérieure d'art's & médias de Caen, France while Andris also has studied at Bellas Artes de Porto, Portugal.

Lately Agita has worked with light and colorful objects and installations, mostly outdoors. Her works are big and bright. With her works she tries to pay attention to the nature around the object by using contrasts, unnatural colors and materials. She wants her works to draw attention to the problems caused by thoughtless use of nature, also humans inner condition in specific moments, as we are also part of nature.

Link to website: http://www.agitamarackovska.com/

Seaweeds. 2017. 56 inflatable mattresses. Arts in Environment - Nordic Symposium, Vartiosaari, Helsinki

Andris works with installations which include different medias and materials. It can be whatever found or created, his works also include sound and video. Andris mostly prefer to exhibit works in old buildings, spaces that are not especially meant for exhibitions.

Link to website: http://andrismarackovskis.com/

“TRIP” 2016.  Kinetic tectonic object, sound, video projection. Riga, Latvia

Both artists have participated in exhibitions, symposiums, festivals and residencies in Latvia, Finland, Estonia, Israel, France, Iceland, Russia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden.

Artist Talk by Sanna Vellava on Wednesday 18th of April at 6 pm

Sanna Vellava - Tracking the Dark

Sanna Vellava is a circus artist, specialized in aerial acrobatics and vertical rope. In addition, she has recently graduated as Master of Social Sciences, in social and cultural anthropology, from University of Helsinki. Her master's thesis focused on "biohacking" as a cultural phenomenon. Nowadays Vellava is planning her PhD studies about technological phenomena in contemporary societies. She is interested in continuing working between artistic and academic fields, researching, challenging and trying to ignore disciplinary boundaries.  

Photo by Luis Sartori do Vale

In Kokkola, Vellava is collaborating with Meri Linna in the RETREAT project. 3-day-stay in the darkness is taken as a space to explore kinesthetic and physiological reactions, happenings inside the body and in the space. RETREAT is taken as a residency for movement research, focusing on sensation and materiality of movement practices, intensified by the lack of visual cues. As there is not a rigging point in the room, aerial acrobatics will be excluded this time however. In parallel, Vellava is conducting a self tracking experiment in which she tracks her physiological reactions with digital self tracking device in order to see how darkness affects bodily states, comparing these to subjectively perceived modifications of mood. 

In her Artist-talk, Vellava will tell more about her previous and current works, hoping also to generate discussion about relations between art, science and technology. 

Artist Talk by AiR Arlene Tucker (TW/USA) on Wednesday 28th of March at 6 pm

Arlene Tucker is a Taiwanese and American installation artist, educator, and toy and game designer interested in adding play elements to daily life through her art. Inspired by translation studies, animals and nature, she finds ways to connect and make meaning in our shared environments. Her process-based artistic work creates spaces and situations for exchange, dialogue, and transformations to occur and surprise all players. She is interested in creating art and situations that trigger the memory and that engage the viewer, inviting the viewer on stage to be a part of the narrative or art creation process. The participation of the observer simultaneously continues and renews the story, in translation. 

 Collective artwork made from Let it Out performance at CulturaFest, 2017. Photo by Anastasia Artemeva.

During her residency at Drake Art Center in Kokkola Arlene has been focusing on Let it Out, which is a joint effort between Anastasia Artemeva, Sonny Nyman, and herself. Let It Out is a project that connects young people affected by imprisonment in Russia and in Finland. Young people will exchange artworks, lyrics, and short videos, produced during workshops with artists and musicians. Let it Out is the current sub-project of Prison Space, established in 2016 by Anastasia. Prison Outside is supported by Kone Foundation.

Link to webpages: 

https://prisonspace.org/

http://translationisdialogue.weebly.com/

Yoga for Creativity and Concentration - Weekend Course

The course will start on Saturday! You can still sign up until Friday 23rd of March. Welcome!

Artist Talk by Charlotte Walentin on Wednesday 21st of March at 6 pm

My work is process based, generally somewhere in between painting and object although I often use drawing as a starting point or a reference. I am interested in the surface of painting, how it may relate to the body and the rest of the room, but also its ability to carry traces of time and process.

I generally try to create a situation there form or concept is put against process.  By using a distinct form or structure, I establish a border or boundary in order to test, bend, disintegrate or undermine it. This strategy is a bit similar to the dramaturgy of horror movies; you need to establish the idyllic setting to be able to  stir it.

I have especially taken an interest in using textile materiality in order to locate a place in between the personal and the artificial, body and object, and, if one wish, the familiar and the strange.

The Unwoven I+II, 2016, Dyed fabric, acrylic glass (1)155 x ø 20 cm (2) 90 x ø 30 cm

You have the opportunity to meet Charlotte during her Artist Talk on Wednesday 21st of March at 6 pm. Very welcome!

Artist Talk by Riku Riippa on Wednesday 14th of March at 6 pm

Riku Riippa is a sculptor from Kälviä. He is a former student of the Nordic Art School and has graduated from Academy of Art in Helsinki 2003. He has exhibited all around Finland.

 

                                       Ceramics, 2015                                     Plaster, 2013

You are very welcome to meet the artist on Wednesday 14th of March at 6 pm.

Link to web-page: Riku Riippa

Artist Talk by Meri Linna & Tilda Dalunde on Wednesday 7th of March at 6 pm

PROJECT RETREAT 10th - 19th of February 2018

- Retreat is a project that examines the absence of light through the context of visual art -


During 10 days at the Retreat in the Nordic Art School, the Swedish artist Tilda Dalunde was examining how the absence of light was affecting the use of her language in writing. 

Tilda wrote down some thoughts before entering the room:
How will my thinking and writing be effected by the absence of light? Who am I without everything my eyes let into my brain and the safety of being able to judge my surroundings with sight? What will want to be written? What will come after the boredom, that I’m sure comes first, as a result of the absence of distractions: no computer, no phone, no book, no knitting, nothing to see? Who am I in that situation? With only a pen and a paper in the dark.

You can read more about Tildas thoughts on going in to the room at www.minnesbeta.wordpress.com

At the Artist Talk on the 7th of February Tilda and Meri will tell about, and go through the details of the accomplished project.

You are very welcome!

Artist Talk by Sonia Hedstrand on Wednesday 14th of February at 6pm

Sonia Hedstrand is a Swedish artist who works with video, photography, text and performance.  Alumn from Whitney Independent Study Program, New York, 2012. Master in Fine Arts from the Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm 2011. Takes part in several artist run initiatives and collaborations such as Nollywood Hustlers, The Drinking Brothers, The Unsecurity Principle and 0s+1s Collective. Freelancing writer in the essay format, as well as a teacher and lecturer at several art schools and universities in Sweden and abroad. www.soniahedstrand.se

You have the opportunity to meet Sonia during her Artist Talk on Wednesday 14th of February at 6 pm. Very welcome!

Artist Talk by Tilda Dalunde on Wednesday 7th of February at 6 pm

Tilda Dalunde (SE) is having her Artist Talk on Wednesday 7th of February. Warmly welcome!

Artist Statement:

I see art as a negotiation with reality; a way of understanding, but also the realisation that understanding always brings up more questions. My work starts as a way of questioning the world of today and where we humans fit into it. I often let historical events and scientific theories form a base when I investigate what is, and what could have been. I'm interested in the balances between beauty and disgust and the balance between obvious and vague.

Through subjects as diverse as the global natural disaster of 536 CE, Charles Darwin's relationship with islands, and my grandmother's disappearance into the world of dementia, I want to tell stories by presenting fragments. I'm fascinated by the idea that these fragments can be put together as a whole inside of a observer, that this is the creation of the finished artwork and that it only exists there, inside that particular observer.

I use a variety of materials and techniques, but my way of working always originates from exploring, rather than inventing meaning. An important part of this exploration is to approach and get to know new materials. I usually choose materials quite early in the process and the materials thereby become part of the limitations I give myself, but it also makes them co-authors of the story I tell. During research and experimentation new questions and thoughts emerge that in time will form the new base for my next project.

Artist Talk by Juhani Järvinen on Wednesday 31th of January at 6 pm

Juhani Järvinen is a visual artist from Helsinki who studied at the (current) Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki, in the 1970s. He is interested in art history and this interest can be seen in all his works over the years.

Juhani left Helsinki shortly after he graduated, because he did not like the idea that the contact network is so important and relevant to the artist. Later, however, he noticed that to be an artist is a profession that is difficult to understand without being in touch with others.

Print, Italian architecture

Gothic inspired sculpture

You have the opportunity to meet Juhani during hi Artist Talk on Wednesday 31th of January at 6 pm. Very welcome!

Link to website: Juhani Järvinen