The group exhibition “Today I practiced how to draw fire / convex, moth, grayscales, in the punctures, sun-faded, cycles” by artists Essi Immonen, Anna-Stiina Korhonen, and Eeva-Maija Pulkkinen has been created as a result of Oksasenkatu 11’s open call focused on collaboration. The artists have spent a year reflecting specifically on the nature and possibilities of cooperation, developing the entire exhibition together through a process. The result of this long shared process is a delicate exhibition that combines glimpses of the three artists’ lives and work.
The artists’ collaboration over the past year has enabled them to share the private details related to their work and the hidden, personal meanings—initially with their team members and curator, and then with the public. The first part of the exhibition’s title, “Today I practiced drawing fire,” describes these starting points and collaborative processes. Practicing drawing fire was a real event; the title of the exhibition reflects the stages of the process as a literal spoken phrase and a metaphor for the fleeting, hard-to-capture moments.
The second part of the title, “convex, moth, grayscales, in the punctures, sun-faded, cycles,” reflects everyday details that may be seen as meaningful or not. For some, these things may seem significant and revealing, while to others they might appear entirely random and impossible to grasp. The drawings in the exhibition concretely include a caterpillar; the sculptures are convex; the sun fades cycles, and light melts routines—though the words and works could be entirely different. Convex appears concave from a different angle, and the implied absence suggests presence. The exhibition examines both meanings and non-meanings, absence and presence, connections and ruptures. Significance and randomness are subjective, tied to individual perception. A list of words and a series of objects can acquire meaning in a certain context. The mind seeks connections.
The exhibition unites disparate details of three lives into one. It contains flashes from three realities—images and forms—that, when combined in the same space, generate strange and unique associations. The artists are united by their approach to art through forms. Forms are central, and the apparent randomness of the themes encourages viewers to reflect on their own content within the works.
The harmony and surprise between the artworks and their content, the change of mood in the installation, and the tensions emphasise how a small shift or change in perspective can transform the entire perceived reality.
– Athanasía Aarniosuo, curator