Cosmic Zoom
2022, solo exhibition
Gallery Forum Box
Helsinki (FI)
Photos: Aukusti Heinonen
Text: Juha-Heikki Tihinen
2022, solo exhibition
Gallery Forum Box
Helsinki (FI)
Photos: Aukusti Heinonen
Text: Juha-Heikki Tihinen
Exhibition text
(EN)
Taru Happonen’s latest exhibition Cosmic Zoom at Forum Box aspires to comprehensiveness both in the artist’s choice of materials and in the subject matter of the works. Happonen uses materials classified as natural materials as well as plastic; although it is good to notice that plastic also originates from nature. Happonen’s material palette this time includes oil paint, pearlescent pigment, recycled plastic and linen. The multi-materiality of the painting shows up also in the framing, as the artist frames her small linen-based works with recycled plastic frames. These material combinations expand the understanding of the possible materials of a painting.
The artist describes her work as follows: “The starting point of my works is to look at organisms and the environment from microscopic close and far from a cosmic scale. The works examine the earth as it is, complex and constantly changing. Contemplation is gentle – I have equal respect and wonder for different species, materials, and environments. Central to my new works are patterns that occur in nature at different scales.” Happonen is inspired, for example, by the wings of butterflies, the structure of cells, the star nebula and aerial photographs depicting the human-built environment. In this respect, she follows a tradition where the artist’s work examines both the details and the broad perspectives of the world. Her work is like practicing practical philosophy in a material form with the means of contemporary art and in its context.
The central idea of Cosmic Zoom is to showcase how organic and synthetic are inextricably intertwined in nature. Happonen highlights the unity of life that follows from this and the kind of material layers that occur over time. Mixing different materials and visual starting points has a central place in her work. This collage-likeness is something by which the viewer can reflect on their own ideas about temporality, materiality and the picturesque. The artist herself says the following: “In my expression, I give hints with expressive features, which I partially break down into abstract ones. Material choices are a continuation of my thematic thinking – organic and synthetic are inseparably intertwined in nature. In the works, different patterns, shapes and materials form links to each other.”
In her works, the artist reflects on the meanings of different materials and their nature in the spirit of New Materialism. In this context, it is good to notice that the materials themselves are part of nature, even if they are not originally organic. By mixing different materials, Happonen gives viewers the opportunity to reflect on their own relationship to the division between nature and non-nature. Instead of creating a boundary between these different pools, the artist emphasizes continuity and cohesion. Nature is diverse and it also contains substances that originally were not understood to be part of it, thus the materials of contemporary art also do not have to be classified as organic or inorganic, but can contain more.
Happonen’s works takes the viewer to the edges of the visible; in the layers of her works also the invisible and hard-to-perceive details gain importance. It is as if Happonen takes the viewer through blindness to somewhere into the fabric of being, where wonder transports us over the inexplicability to personal experience. Her art speaks of the meaning of wonder and the profound nature of the unfolding of experience. The artist’s statement comes close to a worldview, as she creates connections between different dimensions and shows how the micro and macro levels meet through the means of art.
PhD Juha-Heikki Tihinen
(EN)
Taru Happonen’s latest exhibition Cosmic Zoom at Forum Box aspires to comprehensiveness both in the artist’s choice of materials and in the subject matter of the works. Happonen uses materials classified as natural materials as well as plastic; although it is good to notice that plastic also originates from nature. Happonen’s material palette this time includes oil paint, pearlescent pigment, recycled plastic and linen. The multi-materiality of the painting shows up also in the framing, as the artist frames her small linen-based works with recycled plastic frames. These material combinations expand the understanding of the possible materials of a painting.
The artist describes her work as follows: “The starting point of my works is to look at organisms and the environment from microscopic close and far from a cosmic scale. The works examine the earth as it is, complex and constantly changing. Contemplation is gentle – I have equal respect and wonder for different species, materials, and environments. Central to my new works are patterns that occur in nature at different scales.” Happonen is inspired, for example, by the wings of butterflies, the structure of cells, the star nebula and aerial photographs depicting the human-built environment. In this respect, she follows a tradition where the artist’s work examines both the details and the broad perspectives of the world. Her work is like practicing practical philosophy in a material form with the means of contemporary art and in its context.
The central idea of Cosmic Zoom is to showcase how organic and synthetic are inextricably intertwined in nature. Happonen highlights the unity of life that follows from this and the kind of material layers that occur over time. Mixing different materials and visual starting points has a central place in her work. This collage-likeness is something by which the viewer can reflect on their own ideas about temporality, materiality and the picturesque. The artist herself says the following: “In my expression, I give hints with expressive features, which I partially break down into abstract ones. Material choices are a continuation of my thematic thinking – organic and synthetic are inseparably intertwined in nature. In the works, different patterns, shapes and materials form links to each other.”
In her works, the artist reflects on the meanings of different materials and their nature in the spirit of New Materialism. In this context, it is good to notice that the materials themselves are part of nature, even if they are not originally organic. By mixing different materials, Happonen gives viewers the opportunity to reflect on their own relationship to the division between nature and non-nature. Instead of creating a boundary between these different pools, the artist emphasizes continuity and cohesion. Nature is diverse and it also contains substances that originally were not understood to be part of it, thus the materials of contemporary art also do not have to be classified as organic or inorganic, but can contain more.
Happonen’s works takes the viewer to the edges of the visible; in the layers of her works also the invisible and hard-to-perceive details gain importance. It is as if Happonen takes the viewer through blindness to somewhere into the fabric of being, where wonder transports us over the inexplicability to personal experience. Her art speaks of the meaning of wonder and the profound nature of the unfolding of experience. The artist’s statement comes close to a worldview, as she creates connections between different dimensions and shows how the micro and macro levels meet through the means of art.
PhD Juha-Heikki Tihinen