SPRING OBSERVATIONS – Inkeri Halme & Liisa Kuusela

At first, everything is a little dirty. Dusty, with a faint smell in the air, and dominated by shades of gray and brown. Perhaps the biggest difference from late autumn is the all-pervasive light, which soon transforms everything back to life. As the seasons shift from winter to spring, we dig our hands into the soil, observe the arrival of migratory birds, and look for signs of spring. We take note of the changes happening around us, mostly in gardens and vegetable patches.

Now, as the season shifts once again and gardens have been prepared for winter, it is a good time to return to spring and its light. The works in this exhibition were painted during the spring of 2022 and depict both real and imagined surroundings. In the exhibition, Halme’s series Cat Butterflies and Other Signs of Spring meets Kuusela’s Dream Lilies. The dialogue between the artworks reflects the conversations we had throughout the spring—thoughts on daily life, works in progress, cats, and gardening.

Inkeri Halme and Liisa Kuusela graduated from the Free Art School and have held two joint exhibitions, Piilopaikka (2018) and Näin piirrät kissan (2019). Halme (b. 1985, Kisko) lives and works in Helsinki, and her works are included in the collections of the Finnish National Gallery, Hotel Torni, and the Satakunta Student Nation in Helsinki. Kuusela (b. 1987, Espoo) also lives and works in Helsinki, with her works featured in the collections of the Finnish National Gallery, Hotel Torni, and the Finnish Art Society.

The exhibition has been made possible with the support of friends, family, and the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.

Translated with ChatGPT