Handprint is an exhibition featuring the artists of the Hyäryllistä collective (Jouko Korkeasaari, Sari Koski-Vähälä and Heli Kurunsaari). It presents three distinct ways of thinking and art-making that merge to form a new collective logic and visual identity. Each artist’s solo projects are presented side by side with their co-created works, the latter being made from handcrafted elements and recycled materials.
Slow, repetitive handcrafting is characteristic of the group’s shared practice. By working together, the perspectives and strengths of the three artists become organically intertwined. Also central to their philosophy is an openness to learning new skills and making discoveries by inviting chance and surprise. The artists make a practice of reusing the materials and components of their earlier works, thus perpetuating the ongoing cycle of materials, forms and meanings that is uniquely characteristic of their work as a collective.
The title of the exhibition refers to the importance of ‘thinking with one’s hands’, but it can also be understood in the broader sense of a handprint or legacy that we leave to future generations and our planet both as individuals and as members of the human race.
Hyäryllistä held its first exhibition in 1992, marking the inception of what is possibly Finland’s longest-running artist collective. The group’s extensive retrospective ‘Kaikkea hyäryllistä’ (Everything Useful) was presented at WAM (Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art) in Turku in 2020. Their other major exhibitions have included ‘Etusormen merkitys nyky-yhteiskunnassa’ (The Importance of the Index Finger in Contemporary Society) at Helsinki’s Galleria Ama in 2020 and ‘Yritys selventää hämmentävää tilannetta’ (An Attempt to Clarify a Confusing Situation) at the Aboa Vetus Ars Nova Takkahuone Gallery in 2017. The group’s work is held in the Wihuri Foundation Art Collection, the City of Turku collection, and the Finnish Museum of Photography. Each member of the collective is also an independent art practitioner whose solo projects overlap with the group’s shared practice. Their first public work, ‘Lentoon’ (Take Wing), was completed for Taivallahti Primary School in Helsinki in 2024.
Jouko Korkeasaari explores genre boundaries through various artistic strategies. In their Muotikummitus (Fashion Spectre) project, they employ art and craft techniques to create upcycled wearable artworks documented through the practices of fashion photography. Many overlapping themes converge in Korkeasaari’s images, from alternative subcultures and contemporary cultural phenomena to gender diversity and queer history.
Sari Koski-Vähälä creates art using her own family’s surplus and rubbish. Through fragile materials collected over a period of many years, her art visualizes and gives a tangible form to the passage of time, the cycle of nature, and the process of slow farewells. The artist herself has contributed to shaping the history of her materials, whereby her art also serves as a critical mirror of contemporary practices and choices.
Heli Kurunsaari works in the medium of woodcut prints. Her work reflects on the human condition and the place of humans in relation to environment and history.
The exhibition is supported by the Arts Promotion Centre, Niilo Helander Foundation, and the Finnish Cultural Foundation/North Ostrobothnia Fund.
Mediabox