Maa’s students Reetta Ilo Koivukoski & Róza Turunen at MAA-tila Project Space

Reetta Ilo Koivukoski & Róza Turunen: RUNKO 2.12.—19.12.2021

MAA-tila, Pääskylänrinne 10, 00500 Helsinki

Opening hours: Wed–Fri 14–18, Sat–Sun 13–17

MAA-tila is pleased to announce a collaborative exhibition by current Taidekoulu MAA students: Reetta Ilo Koivukoski & Róza Turunen

“I would like to go back to the past for a moment. To a time when your body was forming black holes. Do you remember when they were born? They were almost impossible to see let alone try to understand. They could only be perceived through different sensations. Their edges were taut and they tingled several times a day. Although the holes inhabited your body they lived in it as if it were their own. Different traumas intertwined, seeking warmth, understanding and protection. One distortion more marvelous than the other, so deformed that it felt as if they had lost reality at that very second. Abandoned bodies, crushed self-esteem. Why isn’t anyone here able to love?“

About the artists:

I am Róza Turunen (they/them), a Finnish-Czech artist and activist living and working in Helsinki. I am interested in beauty, kitsh, euphoric and ecstatic feelings. In my work, I deal with how a person gets knowledge of reality through their own feelings and sensations. Emotions are sacred to me, they are my religion. There are often religious elements in my art, associated with corporeality and limited or unlimited consciousness. I wonder if one has an innate need to rely on spirituality and explore the boundary between corporeality and spirituality. I also deal with the image of a person in a consumer capitalist society that carries with it a history of colonialism, oppression, and exploitation — the image we create of one as a God-like being.

I use a lot of plastic objects in my sculptures because I feel that the futility of their existence crystallizes something essential about our human nature and ideology. I work with recycled materials and traditional oil painting.

I am Reetta Ilo Koivukoski (they/them), Helsinki artist and art student. In my art, I deal with humanity and the human relationship to contemporary society. I have always been curious to understand the human mind. In my daily life, I think about mental illnesses, traumas, and addictions in particular. In addition to the human mind, I am fascinated by the body, as well as the interaction between them. The existence and presence of my world of thought is influenced by Zen Buddhist philosophy. Lately, I’ve been thinking about how Western culture affects body image, as well as mental health.

I think and sense the means of moving image, as well as sound, but my process usually begins in my body. I dance and perform, and I build a space that I deposit in a way that suits the situation. Post-processing takes place on a computer, where the image and sound take their final form. I use hand-painted digital prints as animations. My work on the moving image and sound is definitely collage-like. Experimentation and failure, as well as its acceptance, are the most essential in my work.