JA! / TAHDON! – Nina Pörn

Nina Pörn, a visual artist originally from Pietarsaari and now living in Pori, was born in 1969. She graduated from the University of Applied Arts in 1999. She teaches visual arts at the Swedish Community School of Pori (Björneborgs svenska samskola) and served as the chairperson of the Pori Printmakers’ Association from 2001 to 2003. She is also a member of the Finnish Printmakers’ Association.

Her exhibition Ja! / Tahdon! primarily explores the delicate beginnings of first love, when both individuals dream of a beautiful future. The works also touch on the emotions that life may bring. After all, reality rarely aligns with our hopes.

The foundation of Nina Pörn’s works is the love letters of different people, which she has worked with in various ways, such as photographing them, combining them with old family photos, or creating art books. In these art books, she has obscured or scratched out the original texts to bring out different thoughts and emotions. Her art book titled …but we are full of traces also includes a video piece. Two wedding dresses are also displayed in the exhibition. One of these belongs to Pörn’s grandmother. On it, she has transferred her grandmother’s wedding photograph and drypoint sketches of her six children. Some of the works in the exhibition are inspired by an old Inuit tale about a fisherman who finds his love in a skeleton.

A clay installation called Maan munia (Eggs of the Earth) tells the story of magical creatures hatching from eggs. These creatures love to entangle themselves in people’s hair and blow warm, loving breath on their cheeks.

During the long working processes, many memories, thoughts, and emotions have flowed through Pörn’s mind, and the memories of the materials are intertwined with everyday things. She hopes the works will inspire viewers to reflect and, together with their own memories, create new feelings.

This text was created with AI assistance