Taxidermy Surfaces
2024
Solo exhibition
HAM Gallery
Helsinki Art Museum (FI)
2024
Solo exhibition
HAM Gallery
Helsinki Art Museum (FI)
Exhibition text
Time is the one thing that can’t be stopped. Like a sharp blade, it silently cuts through hard and soft, constantly advancing. Nothing is capable of jolting it even the slightest bit, but it changes everything.
(Excerpt from Liu Cixin’s novel The Dark Forest, translated by Joel Martinsen)
Visual artist Taru Happonen explores a complex, ever-changing world from both a cosmic and microscopic perspective in her exhibition Taxidermy Surfaces. Blending sci-fi and real-world elements, she combines the peeled skins of creatures with recurring motifs such as eye shapes, plant cells and circuitry.
The works featured in the exhibition employ a diverse array of materials such as pearlescent pigments, aluminium powder, oil paint, marble powder and mineral resin, mixing together materials traditionally associated either with painting or sculpture. Organic and synthetic elements are inextricably intertwined in both the material presence and content of Happonen’s art.
The soundscape of the exhibition was created in collaboration with composer Tapio Viitasaari.
Artwork photos: Angel Gil
Installation photos: HAM/Sonja Hyytiäinen
Text: HAM Helsinki Art Museum
Time is the one thing that can’t be stopped. Like a sharp blade, it silently cuts through hard and soft, constantly advancing. Nothing is capable of jolting it even the slightest bit, but it changes everything.
(Excerpt from Liu Cixin’s novel The Dark Forest, translated by Joel Martinsen)
Visual artist Taru Happonen explores a complex, ever-changing world from both a cosmic and microscopic perspective in her exhibition Taxidermy Surfaces. Blending sci-fi and real-world elements, she combines the peeled skins of creatures with recurring motifs such as eye shapes, plant cells and circuitry.
The works featured in the exhibition employ a diverse array of materials such as pearlescent pigments, aluminium powder, oil paint, marble powder and mineral resin, mixing together materials traditionally associated either with painting or sculpture. Organic and synthetic elements are inextricably intertwined in both the material presence and content of Happonen’s art.
The soundscape of the exhibition was created in collaboration with composer Tapio Viitasaari.
Artwork photos: Angel Gil
Installation photos: HAM/Sonja Hyytiäinen
Text: HAM Helsinki Art Museum