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Suljen silmäni ja olen tumman veden ympäröimä. Tähdetön taivas kohoaa ylläni ja minä kellun pimeydessä. Aaltoilevan meren humina korvissani vellon veden liikkeen mukana vailla omaa tahtoa. Ohikiitävät välähdykset siitä, mitä olisi voinut olla, siitä, mikä ei koskaan ollut eikä koskaan tule, leikkaavat läpi tumman todellisuuteni. Siinä missä joskus oli himmeä hohto, on nyt läpäisemätön tunnistamaton massa. Massa leijuu vierelläni, pitää kummallisen hiljaista möyrivää murinaa, käy kuolinkamppailuaan ennen mustaan veteen vajoamistaan. Kosketan sitä, koetan ottaa kourallisen, se väistää sormiani ja hajoaa hahtuvaisiksi säikeiksi.
Hengitän. Sisään, ulos. Pimeys
jatkuu loputtomiin, lepään.
Näyttelyn tekstiiliteokset ovat syntyneet muutaman viime vuoden aikana. Teoksissa käyttämäni tekniikka perustuu kankaan laskostamiseen ja kiinnittämiseen erilaisin menetelmin kolmiulotteisten muotojen rakentamiseksi. Muotoilen teokseni useimmiten yhtenäisestä kankaasta taitosten ja laskosten avulla. Tekniikka vaatii paljon kankaan ehdoilla tekemistä ja erilaisten tukirakenteiden kanssa työskentelyä. Suhtaudun kankaaseen teoksissani ikään kuin ihona, joka elää kantajansa yllä. Se ei ole täydellinen, se venyy, kurtistuu, rikkoutuu. Se vaatii hellyyttä kukoistaakseen, mutta saa usein osakseen kovakouraistakin käsittelyä, armottomuutta ja välinpitämättömyyttä.
Temaattisesti teokset sijoittuvat niin sanotusti ei-kenenkään-maalle: pysähtyneisiin tyhjiin hetkiin, jotka voivat olla katoavia, silmänräpäyksen kaltaisia tai toisaalta epämääräisesti vellova ja loputtomalta vaikuttava, suunnaton hämärä. Tiloihin ja tilanteisiin, joissa ei voi kuin olla parhaansa mukaan, odottaa, että jonkinlainen määrittelemätön liikahdus osoittaa uuden tien, suunnan tai mahdollisuuden.
Suvi Härkönen on kuvanveistäjä ja installaatiotaiteilija, joka on valmistunut kuvataiteilijaksi Lahden AMK:n Taideinstituutista 2011 ja taiteen maisteriksi Aalto-yliopiston Visuaalisen kulttuurin koulutusohjelmasta 2014. Hän havainnoi teoksissaan liminaalisuuden käsitettä ja sen suhdetta taiteeseen. Teoksissa on usein läsnä väistämättömän muutoksen tuntu, ne muodostavat eräänlaisia välitiloja, hetkellisen pysähtyneisyyden näyttämöitä. Härkönen on pitänyt vuosien varrella useita yksityisnäyttelyitä, esimerkkeinä Galleria Katariina (2022), Galleria Huuto (2020), Porvoon Taidehalli (2018), Valokuvagalleria Hippolyte (2017) ja GalleriaKONE (2015). Hän asuu ja työskentelee Porvoossa ja on Kuvanveistäjäliiton jäsen.
Työskentelyä on
tukenut Visuaalisen taiteen edistämiskeskus VISEK.
The title of the exhibition, Mirage, refers to a reflecting image that can be encountered for example in the desert or out on the sea. I use the term metaphorically: as a way of trying to grasp something that seems to be right within the reach but flees when approached, shifts its shape over and over again to stay forever unreachable. The abstracted images in my sculptures resemble frozen moments paused in time, scenes ready to shift as the viewing angle changes. They seem to seek something, not wanting to stay within the limits I've given them. They lead the gaze beyond themselves, perhaps to a different time, perhaps to a place that no longer exists or to one that is just being formed.
I'm influenced by nature, art history, architecture and the worlds of cinema and stage arts. Within those I perceive interesting repetitions which inspire me to form actual sculptural elements in my own work. My sculptures are abstract relief-like pieces in which I utilize textiles, rubber and wood. They take place within a triangle formed by sculpture, contemporary textile art and traditional craftsmanship, and continue the diverse tradition of using textile materials within the field of sculpture.
Previously I've focused mainly on large-scale installation pieces. During the past few years, I've shifted the focus towards textile sculpture. Regardless of technique, my production is united by the interest in the themes such as the forming of an artwork and spectatorship, and the ways of experiencing the artwork. I consider my pieces as kinds of portals and liminal spaces. These sculptural elements or environments that refer to transition, anticipation or the idea of change, form a world of their own which I invite the viewer to submerge themself into.
Suvi Härkönen is a sculptor and an installation artist. She has a BA in Fine Arts from Lahti Institute of Design and Fine Arts and an MA in Visual Culture from Aalto University. She has exhibited extensively in Finland, at Photographic Gallery Hippolyte (2017), GalleriaKONE (2015), Porvoo Art Hall (2018), Gallery Uusi Kipinä (2021) and Gallery Huuto (2020) among others and also at Galleri Konstepidemin in Gothenburg, Sweden (2014). Härkönen lives and works in Porvoo, Finland and is a member of the Association of Finnish Sculptors.
30.10.-22.11.2020
Opening on Thursday 29th of October at 16-19.
Kindly wear a face mask if planning to participate!
Work in picture: Untitled, 2020. Velvet, rubber, wood, metal. 65 x 35 x 18 cm.
Porvoo Art Hall / Kulma
Läntinen Aleksanterinkatu 1, 06100 Porvoo
The Need installation deals with the need for an accepting human touch. Touch is one of our first experiences in life, and the lack of touch is one of the most harmful things to an individual. The exhibition constructs a landscape where the lack of touch makes one build something between oneself and others, something through which they could compensate for the experience of loneliness and missing out. This protective layer covers the vulnerable flesh and a living yearning.
Härkönen’s works often portray physical experiences of an individual in relation to a community, experiences that are difficult to verbalize. They urge the viewer to stop and let the subtle elements form spaces where one can place oneself in a landscape of otherness, separateness and experiences of alternate realities. The minimalist and meditative works form as a result of the combined effect of visible structures, an empty space and the viewer’s presence.
Suvi Härkönen earned her BA in Fine Arts from the Lahti Institute of Design and Fine Arts and MA in Visual Culture from Aalto University. She mainly works with experiential and spatial installations. Härkönen’s works have been on display at both solo and group exhibitions since 2009. She lives and works in Porvoo.
The artist’s work has been supported by Svenska kulturfonden and Arts Promotion Centre Finland.
Need
Cultural House Laikku, Studio
11.1.- 2.2.2020
Welcome!
Cultural House Laikku
Keskustori 4, Tampere
Open Tue-Fri 9-21, Sat-Sun 10-18
Robots Don't Dream - Dance Performance
Jyväskylän Kesä Festival, Juomatehdas, Jyväskylä
4.-6.7.2018
Welcome!
"The powerful dance performance follows a humanoid robot with an awakening sentience, living in black liquid and being fed by it. The choreography draws its inspiration from the movement of the newest multi-jointed robots and sci-fi movie imagery. The work prompts one to ponder the relationship between human and technology and consider the questions and feelings raised by the subject. The audience views the performance next to a water pool dressed in rain cloaks.
Showtimes:
Wed 4.7. 17:00
Thu 5.7. 17:00
Fri 6.7. 17:00 AND 20:00
The venue Juomatehdas is located at Vapaudenkatu 25, Jyväskylä.
Tickets from lippu.fi
Robots Don't Dream - Dance Performance
Museum of Technology, Helsinki 12.10.-10.12.2017
Premiere Thursday 12.10. at 18.00.
Welcome!
Choreography and direction: Ismo-Pekka Heikinheimo
Dance: Tanja Illukka
Set Design: Suvi Härkönen
Production: Ismo Dance Company in collaboration with the Museum of Technology
"Come to see the imaginary human robot which lives in a black fluid from which it feeds. The robot is instructed through a futuristic transfer of information by this mystical fluid to move and dance. The liquid implements algorithms directly into the robot’s brain. The robot executes routines with microscopic accuracy while moving with greater fluidity and diversity than modern day articulated robotics. The show suits all those interested in science fiction, anime, cyberpunk, comic book heroes and robots. The choreography is strong and dynamic. We recommend that under 12 year olds are accompanied by adults.
Internationally acclaimed dancer Tanja Illukka performs in a black wetsuit as a human robot, which can be thought of as a person who becomes a technical instrument and has a human body. The relationship between people and technology is one of the fundamental questions about technology and a theme that awakens feelings from fear to enthusiasm. The debate if humans are in control of technology, or if technology dominates humans, has been relevant ever since industrialization and is closely related to modern times. The 21st century developments of new applications of robotics makes this issue a relevant topic once again.
The powerful breathing of the dancer, low frequency bass sound and the splashing of liquid set the pace of the performance and create an intense and gripping atmosphere where the spectator has a clear role. Dance reflects the individual’s subconscious conflict with the instrumentalizing powers of society. The central idea of the performance is that attempts to make people into instruments and to control change will go astray.
Robots Don’t Dream is a dance performance based on an installation of the same name by visual artist Suvi Härkönen, whose 3 x 6 metre large pool of black water is the impressive set for the performance.
Each performance has space for 40 viewers. Members of the audience are given monocoloured rain capes to wear for the show. Spectators watch the performance in a clear relationship of power towards the dancer moving in the pool. The audience with their uniform capes becomes a mass that has lost signs of individuality. This reinforces the opposition between individuals and faceless machinery. The rain capes also protect the audience from splashes."
"The work featured in Hippolyte Gallery in August is an installation by Suvi Härkönen that includes water, light and sound – elements familiar from the artist’s previous works. The new piece explores the interplay of privilege, status and fear.