un
2019

Installation
Hand-dyed batik on linen, steel pole
3,5 x 4 m

Coexistence, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
Commissioned by the museum

The wax-drawn forms on four separate linen panels, hanging off a bent steel pole, depict real and imagined sea organisms. The work initiated from a sense of mourning for the on-going extinction of species both known and yet to be discovered. The title ‘un’ refers to the prefix attached to words such as ‘unknown’, undiscovered’ or ‘unimagined’. The receding perspective of the floating forms together with the stark contrast in colours give away a sense of depth of the deep sea that remains somewhat impenetrable and uncharted, much like its celestial counterpart the outer space.

Curators: Satu Oksanen, Saara Hacklin and Kati Kivinen

Photos © Pirje Mykkänen – Finnish National Gallery