Objects accumulate on every imaginable surface; a hairpin, random papers, an unidentifiable piece of plastic, perhaps something fit to be eaten..?
Each material has travelled its own (sometimes lengthy) route to arrive here. I carry them with me, gather more, leave some behind. By combining them, new mixtures emerge. Somewhere, mould begins to gather. Dirt may simply be unwanted matter in the wrong place.
In moving through the world, one inevitably leaves traces; in the soil, on freshly painted surfaces, on other people. Cause-and-effect relationships can be difficult to interpret in retrospect. Tracer examines these teeming material encounters and speculates on the origin and meaning of the seemingly insignificant everyday objects, as well as the invisible forces, logistics and correlations around them. The exhibition consists of a vitrine-like title piece Tracer, and a 23-part cast-tin object collection titled Baggage (2025). In the piece Tracer (2026), beneath tautly stretched fabric lies a fictional cartography of (absent) objects; the tin objects on the walls are 1:1 replicas of everyday items accumulated on the bottom of a bag. Immonen is interested in the meanings charged into materials, and, conversely, in material ambivalence. The works investigate what we hold on to, and what we consider valuable.
The exhibition is supported by Greta och Alfred Runebergs Stiftelse.
Essi Immonen (b. 1995, FI) is a Finnish artist living and working in Helsinki. In her latest practice Immonen has been drawn to seemingly insignificant objects such as a faded receipt found at the bottom of a pocket, and the material transformations that occur over time. In her works, Immonen explores the built environment and its materials along with the meanings they hold and our relationship to them. Her formal education includes a Master’s degree of Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts at the University of the Arts Helsinki (2023) and a Bachelor’s degree of Fine Arts from Saimaa University of Applied Sciences (2018). Her most recent solo show was in Gallery Sculptor (Helsinki, 2025) and she has also recently shown her works in the first group exhibition at Sunnyside Gallery in Helsinki (2025) and at the Mänttä Art Festival in summer 2024. Her works can be found in collections including those of the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa, the State Art Collection of Finland and Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation.