The opening of the exhibitions by Fanny Varjo, Aleksi Hietakangas and Vivi Varjo (Hall 1) and Sini-Meri Hedberg (Hall 2) takes place at HAA Gallery on Wednesday, August 7th, 2024! Both the exhibitions are on display from 8 August to 1 September, 2024. You are warmly welcome!
Image: Fanny Varjo, Aleksi Hietakangas & Vivi Varjo (left) and Sini-Meri Hedberg (right)
Fanny Varjo, Aleksi Hietakangas and Vivi Varjo: Lore garden (Hall 1)
Fanny Varjo / sculptures
Aleksi Hietakangas / sound
Vivi Varjo / text
The health-promoting and destructive potentials of poisons have fascinated and terrified people throughout history – as well as inspired stories and myths. Lore garden is a multisensory installation combining sculptures, sound, and texts, drawing from the narratives and myths surrounding poisons and toxic plants over time. The materiality and organic forms of the artworks reflect the exhibition’s theme; sculptures combine a diverse range of materials such as glass, metal, wood, ceramics, hemp fiber, and hair. The sound component is inspired by the myth of the screaming mandrake, and the texts shed light on the stories behind the sculptures through scientific inquiry.
Fanny Varjo (b. 1995) is a visual artist based in Helsinki. She mainly works with sculpture and installation combining different materials such as wood, hair, metal, glass and ceramics. The topics and themes of Varjo’s work arise from her interest in history, beliefs and various stories, which eventually always have a link to the present as well. Materiality is at the center of her work; she combines various materials on sculptures and finds fascinating how each material contains information in itself. Sometimes the themes can be contradictory, but there is always humor and joy included in the sculptures. Varjo graduated as a visual artist in 2021 from the Turku Arts Academy. At the moment, she is studying for her master degree in the Academy of Fine Arts Helsinki. Varjo is a member of the Turku Artists’ Association and the Finnish Sculptors’ Association.
Fanny Varjo’s work has been supported by Arts Promotion Centre Finland and The Finnish Art Society (young artist grant).
Aleksi Hietakangas (b. 1997) is a musician living and working in Helsinki. The work in the exhibition is his first piece in the field of sound design, and the works consist of field recordings manipulated with effects. He plays guitar in the band Skyjoggers, which has been active since 2017. Skyjoggers have released four studio albums and toured Europe performing in 10 different countries.
Vivi Varjo (b. 1992) is a doctoral researcher at University of Helsinki in the Faculty of Social Sciences in the Economic and Social History Department. Her academic background is in economic and social history and economics as well as in cultural history. She is interested in topics like history of medicine, popularisation of science and dialogue between arts and sciences. Varjo likes to produce different text types and has for example produced social media content about historical plants for The National Museum of Finland. She is currently working on a doctoral dissertation on pharmaceutical patents, supported by Emil Aaltonen’s foundation.
Sini-Meri Hedberg: Kuilu – The Rift (Hall 2)
In Sini-Meri Hedberg’s paintings, you travel through varying mountain landscapes. Moods are strongly reflected in the sky; the shape, size and colors of the clouds hint at the feelings of the mental landscape.
Hedberg has long been inspired by the history of landscape painting and has been interested in the metaphorical nature of the landscape. ”A Valley can be seen as a moment of calm in between storms or as a space in between climbing and descending. Rifts are the sudden dips of life, that make you see what is essential. Standing at the edge, do we experience the presence of emptiness or the weight of meaning?”
The exhibition is part of a continuum in which Hedberg is looking for new dimensions for her landscape painting. The colors are brighter and with more contrast.
The exhibition has been supported by the City of Turku and the Turku Art Association.
Sini-Meri Hedberg graduated as a visual artist in 2004 from the Turku University of Applied Sciences, after which she has held thirty solo exhibitions and participated extensively in joint exhibitions. Hedberg mainly paints with acrylic and oil colors on canvas. Hedberg is e.g. member of Finnish Painters´ Union and Turku Artists’ Association. Hedberg has works in the art collections of the State / Ministry of Foreign Affairs, City of Turku and City of Rovaniemi.
HAA Gallery
Suomenlinna C1, 00190 Helsinki
Opening hours: Tue–Thu 12–6 pm, Fri–Sun 12–4pm