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Seasons as Rhythms Guiding my Artistic Practice

Application summary

During my grant period I will further develop my interdisciplinary practice, which transcends the boundaries of traditional art forms by working with food within its socio-political, cultural, and ecological dimensions. Using a feminist and decolonial approach, my work explores different forms of enacting care, incorporating embodied knowledge—such as walking, foraging, and cooking—and fostering togetherness in the context of environmental imbalances. My artistic practice is guided by the seasons, as I believe we are part of these rhythms—cycles of the sun and moon—which teach us that there is a time for everything: a time for building, producing, gathering, paying attention, being “slow and lazy,” and reflecting. My project includes the creation of an Experimental Kitchen Studio to develop my practice and artworks for upcoming exhibitions—a solo exhibition at Titanik Gallery and a group exhibition, Everlasting Soup Salon, at Sinne Gallery. Additionally, I will present a series of performances—Dormancy, Reseeding, Resistance at Light-Harvesting Complex—and participate in an event at Ceremonies festival at Oksasenkatu 11 Gallery. Motivated by the processes of sharing, learning, and unlearning, I will also focus on the first-phase development of an experimental project titled Entangled Ecologies—an online archive and inquiry into sharing local and edible plant knowledge in urban and forest ecologies in Uusimaa. Furthermore, I will launch a seasonal collaborative project, Foraged Feast: A Multi-Species Gathering, which aims to cook with the landscapes and involve human and more-than-human collaborations, exploring the processes of transforming and being transformed.

Seasons as Rhythms Guiding my Artistic Practice was the theme of this working year. During this time, I engaged in walks at different times of the year around Uusima. Each walk was an experience of learning and unlearning, meeting familiar plants and new acquaintances, nurturing plant relationships for years to come. I listened to my body and allowed myself to work based on the seasons. I started the grant in the spring, building foundations such as the experimental kitchen studio and planning collaborations for the rest of the year. Summer and early autumn was my busiest season, where I focused on producing a variety of edible and ephemeral artworks, experimenting with flavor and shape, and gathering wild plants and plant parts for the upcoming months. In late autumn, my productivity started to decrease while still working from my studio space and taking on a few commissions. In winter, my work was centered around the Entangled Edible Ecologies online archive, reading, writing, and researching.

Throughout each season, different projects flourished, and the seasonality and availability of ingredients dictated my work. The main focus of my work was a solo exhibition at Titanik gallery in the summer, which included 2 performance events, the Grounded Gatherings project, which included one public event and one duo exhibition. Other important works were the first phase development of the archival project Entangled Edible Ecologies and the creation of my experimental kitchen studio, which allowed me to develop and grow my food and art practice. Overall, I participated in one solo and one duo exhibition, two performances, five edible installations, and several events in Finland; one artistic residency in Helsinki, and another one in the Netherlands.

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