Arja Kärkkäinen: Sides of the Same
- 29.11.2024
- 10:00 - 18:00
Porvoo Art Hall
Arja Kärkkäinen
Sides of the Same
29.11.2024-5.1.2025
Arja Kärkkäinen’s exhibition consists of two bodies of work, completed between 2023–2024, and the dialogue that emerges between them.
“Reflection” is a body of work commissioned by the City of Kuopio, which will be permanently installed in Savilahti, Kuopio, in 2026. The ceramic reliefs consist of 295 individual tiles, hand-rolled by the artist from five different types of clay, partially glazed using a special casting technique. The work depicts a reflection of a calm lake surface and a horizon formed by a row of trees. A view that is impossible to physically touch, but which spreads everywhere and is always present.
The ceramics in Reflection, designed for outdoor spaces, are hard, durable, and cold, while the fur in the work Closed Containers is soft, delicate, and warm. Fur is associated with luxurious, sexy femininity. However, the inward-facing sculptures turn their raw backs to the viewer: torn, broken, assembled from small pieces, cracked skins. The visual language of the works portrays the expectations directed at femininity from the perspectives of the fertility debate and aging.
Collaborators: City of Kuopio
