Kaisu Häkkänen and Susanna Pälviä

KAISU HÄKKÄNEN | Visual Artist
Born in 1974 in Kuopio, lives and works in Ruokolahti
Kaisu Häkkänen (1974) studied visual arts at the Academie Minerva in the Netherlands.
Häkkänen creates photographs and uses a pinhole camera as her tool. In addition to photography, she has also worked with installations. Currently, Häkkänen lives and works in Ruokolahti, Eastern Finland.

“My work starts with individual stories or personal experiences, from which I move towards collective meanings. In my art, I often address feelings of alienation and being on the periphery, and the impact of these experiences on human identity.

I work with a pinhole camera because the inactivity of a long-exposed image naturally speaks of alienation without me having to make the outsider subject into an object of alienation. With my images, I aim to pose questions about presence and connection to others, while also showing compassion to the viewer, touching their emotions and thoughts.”

At Poriginal Gallery, pigment prints from the series On Earth and in the Sky are on display. This series was captured in 2015-2016 in Northern Norway and various locations in Finland.

SUSANNA PÄLVIÄ
Susanna Pälviä (1964) studied visual arts in the Netherlands at AKI, Enschede Academy of Art and Design, graduating in 2000 from the Mixed Media department.
Pälviä now lives and works in the village of Mynttilä, Mäntyharju, with her studio located in the old Mynttilä train station. In her installations, she uses various materials and techniques.

“In the works for this exhibition, I have wondered how to mourn a person who provokes so many conflicting thoughts and emotions. I have reflected on the life of my father, who passed away in 2014 at an old age, and what remains of him after he’s gone. How little we may truly know about people close to us, even family members.

The themes of my works include sorrow, shame, guilt, and life choices. Invisible ties that bind us to the fates of loved ones, whether we want them or not.

In my works, I have used materials such as straw, light and shadow, as well as objects related to my father and family album photos.”

Translated with ChatGPT