Marja Pirilä 9.9. - 1.10. 2006

Curriculum Vitae (.pdf)

 

Speaking light

My pictures are not just pictures of something
but rather an existential act
whereby I define myself and the interior space of the world.*

Light, space and transformation continue to amaze me. The Speaking Light exhibition features three new sets of works.

In the Speaking House series, I have transformed spaces in a large abandoned house into dark rooms, camera obscuras. The time-worn rooms of the mental asylum, already amazing in their native state, have taken in reflections of the outside world. A second, intangible state of light has been etched onto the images during the long exposure times of up to an hour.

Work in the camera obscura method has again been a slow and meditative process. Day turns into night and summer into winter, the shoots go on and every time, the light in the house has changed and spoken in a different voice. For me, this series of pictures has also been a long journey into facing and accepting disintegration, surrender and death.

The works in the Speaking House series were printed on thick, fibrous paper in pigment colours that give a velvety surface, intense hue and long life.

I am is a series of black-and-white double portraits of children on the brink of puberty. Through the works I wish to share the experience of us all being one, deep down in our silent depths, the feeling of me being ­– you! Eyes and Mouth Camera Obscura consists of three camera obscuras in wood executed together with Petri Nuutinen. The shapes of the eyes and mouth form a kind of face spreading into the space, reflecting the surroundings and events therein.

Camera obscura (Latin for “dark room”) is a phenomenon where light passing into a dark space through a hole or lens forms an upside-down image of the view outside. Scientists, artists and philosophers have used the phenomenon for centuries in their work.

* Adapted from Juhani Pallasmaa, “Maailman sisätila” [Interior space of the world] / Juhana Blomstedt: “Unelma valosta” [Dream of light], WAM 1998 p. 4

 

SPEAKING HOUSE # 1, 2006
pigment print
96 x 90 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
54 x 50 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 2, 2006
pigment print
89 x 125 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
47 x 66 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 3, 2006
pigment print
93 x 73 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
60 x 47 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 4, 2006
pigment print
74 x 91 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
38 x 47 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 6, 2006
pigment print
89 x 110 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
47 x 58 cm, edition: 10

 

SPEAKING HOUSE # 7, 2006
pigment print
74 x 88 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
38 x 45 cm, edition: 10

 

SPEAKING HOUSE # 8, 2006
pigment print
60 x 69 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
39 x 45 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 9, 2006
pigment print
60 x 74 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
39 x 48 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 10, 2006
pigment print
74 x 92 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
38 x 47 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 11, 2006
pigment print
60 x 74 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
39 x 48 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 12, 2006
pigment print
115 x 90 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
93 x 73 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 13, 2006
pigment print
60 x 75 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
39 x 49 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 14, 2006
pigment print
60 x 71 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
47 x 55 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 22, 2006
pigment print
59 x 47 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
47 x 37 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 16, 2006 (diptyykki)
pigment print
55 x 44 + 41 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
35 x 28 + 26 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 17, 2006
pigment print
59 x 47 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
47 x 37 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 18, 2006
pigment print
59 x 47 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
47 x 37 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 19, 2006
pigment print
63 x 47 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
47 x 35 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 20, 2006
pigment print
63 x 47 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
47 x 35 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 21, 2006
pigment print
63 x 47 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
47 x 35 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 5, 2006 (triptyykki)
pigment print
76 x 94 + 94 + 94 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
47 x 58 x 58 x 58 cm, edition: 10

SPEAKING HOUSE # 15, 2006 (diptyykkI)
pigment print
74 x 87 x 54 cm, edition: 7 + 2 AP
38 x 45 + 28 cm, edition: 10

I AM, 2006
32 images
C-print
á 30 x 60 cm
edition: 3

from series I AM, 2006
C-print
30 x 60 cm
edition: 3

EYES AND MOUTH, 2006
wood, glass, lenses
Eye: 21 x 53 x 39 cm
Mouth: 29 x 101 x 42 cm
edition: 1

Enlarge by clicking the image. Press images are available at the gallery.