In her exhibition Hitauden anatomia (The Anatomy of Slowness), Mari Oikarinen examines time, environmental grief, and the course of the artistic process. The work on view, Aavesärky (Phantom Ache) grows out of the absence of thickets and saplings – of everything that disappears as a result of environmental tidying, clearing, and construction. 

Aavesärky is an ongoing project that began in 2021. Oikarinen has documented all by-products of the making of the work, such as wood chips, sawdust, and drilling debris. Composed of these materials, Lastuarkisto (Chip Archive) is also presented in the exhibition, shedding light on Oikarinen’s working methods. 

Mari Oikarinen (b. 1981) is a visual artist who lives and works in Rovaniemi. She works with structural wooden sculptures as well as textile materials, using slow, craft-based methods. Long processes and the gradual growth and expansion of works over the years are characteristic of Oikarinen’s practice.

Oikarinen has held several solo exhibitions in Finland and abroad and has participated in numerous juried exhibitions. Her works are included in the collections of the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, Rovaniemi Art Museum, Aine Art Museum, Oulu Art Museum, Pori Art Museum, and the Gösta Serlachius Foundation. Oikarinen was awarded the William Thuring Prize in 2024.