Ilmari Gryta
The Shape of Five
Our development and learning have taken humans into space. Space travelers have often described their experiences of seeing Earth with a phenomenon called the overview effect. It is an emotional experience that occurs when we encounter something vast, which exceeds our usual frame of reference and is difficult for us to comprehend. Seeing Earth from space is the ultimate perspective shift, forcing a person to move their attention away from themselves and towards things that matter to the planet as a whole.
I have to rely on my imagination when it comes to traveling to space. However, I am able to experience deep compassion for this living and breathing planet from Earth. Perhaps this is influenced by living in the midst of nature, planting trees and tending bees. But also by the awareness of how we treat the Earth, which we so desperately want to own and reshape to our liking, regardless of the means.
The Shape of Five consists of five geometric shapes. These shapes have historically referred to the five classical elements that are significant for life on Earth: fire, earth, water, air, and ether. The fifth element, ether, was defined as something undefined until the universe became relative. In this context, ether takes form as a space that, by its size, can encompass the other shapes within itself. By doing so, the entirety becomes the shape of five.
For my works I have chosen four classical sculptural materials, as well as materials that currently belong to the sculptural material selection. Since I work in sculpture, such a dialogue between materials and the sculptor is natural and desirable. I also feel that this combination of geometric shapes and materials leads thoughts to everything that we hold in our hands: form, space, time, materials, and perceptions.
The exhibition has been supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Arts Promotion Centre.
Ilmari Gryta (b. 1979) is a sculptor who employs various materials and techniques. He graduated with a Master’s in Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki in 2008. Since graduating, he has held solo exhibitions in galleries and museums, and participated in numerous group and collective exhibitions. Gryta’s works can be found in the collections of the Finnish State, Kiasma, and the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation. In addition to exhibitions, he has also realised public artworks, with his latest series Aurinko ja Kuu (Sun and Moon), completed in 2022 for the Tervakoski Health Center.
Rikard Lassenius
Transformation
On the path to dissolution. Change. A new form. Meaning. Grand movements, yet minimal. Merging into something larger. Isolated. Fragments breaking apart. Pieces falling into place. Skin, hair, fluids, bodies. Surface deep within. Thoughts on progress. leading nowhere. Breathing. Dyspnea.
Working group:
Rikard Lassenius is a director, animator, sound artist, composer, and graphic designer.
Emilia Jansson is an actress, choreographer and screen writer. She is a founding member of the theatre group 4 Floors of whores.
Linda Lehto is a stylist, hair artist, and the AD and owner of Arts Helsinki.
Rikard Lassenius is a video and sound artist living in Helsinki. His work delves into the fabric of time, bending and looping it to mirror the cycles that shape human existence. Through layered soundscapes and distorted, shifting visuals, Lassenius creates immersive spaces where time unravels and reweaves, moving both forward and backward in continuous motion. In a world dense with images, these pieces invite a pause — a contemplative experience that transcends linear perception, drawing viewers into a state where personal echoes merge with universal rhythms. Here, repetition becomes reflection, and the boundaries between self and cosmos blur. Lassenius is a member of MUU ry, AV-Arkki, Yö ry and Animaatiokilta.
Mikko Luostarinen
Decoration 5.0
The exhibition series titled Decoration is a multifaceted concept that branches out in different directions, combining not only visual art but also influences from fields such as interior design and set design.
Through my works, I explore the blurred boundary between the traditional divisions of “decoration” and “art,” and how an image is interpreted in different ways depending on its purpose, materiality, and presentation. What happens when an image is printed on a lightbox or hung from the ceiling like a set piece? Does the image distance itself from the viewer when presented digitally printed on a lightbox, or does it come closer to the viewer, acting as an easily approachable and active piece in relation to the exhibition space? Large works, which follow the dimensions of the exhibition space, partly communicate with the architecture of the space itself.
The themes of ornament and decoration serve as the central structure of the works. The pieces are a kind of hybrid, where visual influences from popular culture and other non-Western cultures mix and parallel each other, making aesthetics and decoration the very subject of the images. Various working methods interact with each other, so that image themes continue from one technique and material to another.
Originally based on paintings, the works were collaged digitally and printed, moving from painting into a world that resembles mass production and artificiality. In the exhibition space, the lightbox works can be associated with design products created in the art culture. In terms of materials, the lightboxes reference the familiar street scene billboard advertisements. Visually, they may also remind one of old, retro-style arcade machines. The light emanating from within the lightboxes mimics the screen of a computer or phone, the devices from which we are used to viewing digital images.
The kitschy aesthetic of the vibrant visual worlds emphasizes the “superficial” nature of decoration. In my works, however, decorative elements are taken to a level where the visual essence of the image justifies itself, turning “tasteless” into “tasteful”.
In the exhibition space, broader thematic concepts of ornament and decoration link freely developed individual works to form one larger whole.
The exhibition has been supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
Mikko Luostarinen (b. 1993) has a Master of Arts degree from the Academy of Fine Arts. He has had solo exhibitions, for example, at Project Room in Helsinki, Galleria Uusikuva in Kotka and Galleria Ars Libera in Kuopio. He has also taken part in several group exhibitions in Finland and abroad. From 2016 to 2017, Luostarinen spent a year in Japan as an exchange student at the University of Tsukuba.
Mediabox