Riikka Puronen The Three Storytellers
The Three Storytellers exhibition is based on different narratives and interpretations. By re-arranging the letters of the exhibition’s title (Kolme kertojaa in Finnish), it is possible, and in the spirit of J. R. R. Tolkien, to tell a story about holes or something else:
JA KERTOA ME KOL
EERO, K. TOLK JA MA:
”TEKM ERA KOLOJA!”
Amidst disinformation, trolling and fake news, “the three storytellers” of the exhibition balance between different perspectives. The varying forms in the works create different viewpoints to the story, like alternative truths. The storytellers have imprinted their speeches in clay, and the seashell’s hum or the horizon line differ in their orientation to the storytellers. Although the starting point of each work is in the words, the exhibition suggests to look at the braids of narrative in between the visual forms.
Riikka Puronen’s (b. 1968) artistic practice is characterized by an abundant use of different materials and a variety of scales. Lately, Puronen has been exploring the use of 3D techniques. Puronen acquired her MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki in 1996 and since 1992, Puronen has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Finland and abroad and held twenty solo exhibitions. The public sculpture Compass and Stars, located in Kalasatama, was commissioned by Helsinki Art Museum HAM in 2018. In addition to her own artistic work, Puronen has worked as a lecturer in sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts Helsinki from 2007–2017. She has been awarded the Finland Prize for Young Artists in 1997, and the William Thuring Prize in 2010.
The exhibition has been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.
