Dominik Fleischmann:
Dog Vomit and Pink Fairy Puke — The things I have learned about death

They rise where everything else has fallen, they thrive where no other life can linger. Their ascent is swift and never high. Their bond with the dead , so close and intimate, one might wonder: If we were to call them Death, would they respond?
In an attempt to process and understand the death of his friends and the loss of a sanctuary, visual artist Dominik Fleischmann turns to the knowledge of the forest and the entities who know death, in every colour, state, and being. Centred around leaves, slime mold, fungi, and lichens, the exhibition at HAA Gallery explores the wonders of decay and the wisdom of the forest floor through photographic installations. Dominik seeks to understand and negotiate the nature of loss among the Nordic’s last remaining old-growth trees and Helsinki's urban forests.
The camera becomes a magnifying glass and a gateway to portray the companions of death in their eerie beauty and mystery. The photographs are paired with chlorophyll prints and moving images that document a dialogue of decay between leaves and slime mold. The exhibition invites viewers to reflect on our relationship with mortality, interspecies dependencies, and the shapes of grief in a world marked by loss and separation.
Dog Vomit and Pink Fairy Puke — The things I have learned about death is a part of Dominik’s long-term artistic research, To Fall Like A Leaf. A project dedicated to the wonders of leaves and reciprocity across species. In his artistic process, Dominik brings together alternative photographic methods, multi-material installations, and handmade paper from natural fibres. It is a process that invites the agency of different elements to perceive artworks in an ever-changing dialogue with their surroundings. The project is guided by empathy, grief, and decay, and the learning with companion species.

The project and this exhibition are kindly supported by the Koneen Säätiö and Paulon Säätiö.

Dominik Fleischmann (b. 1989, Germany) is a Visual Artist and Doctoral Researcher at the University of the Arts, Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki. Before and after his photography studies in Germany and Finland, he worked in animal sanctuaries across the globe, researching the relationship between humans and other animals. His practice-based research seeks to find ethical ways of interacting with nature that inform ecological and alternative ways of creating and exhibiting art. Dominik’s work combines a documentary approach with a lyrical narrative and draws inspiration from nature writers, ecofeminism, poetry, and environmental activism.