Catarina Ryöppy: Time - Borders (exhibition)

Exhibition at the Amos Anderson Art Museum, 13.11.2009–4.1.2010. Viewed 2 Jan 2010.

From the official presentation: "Catarina Ryöppy layers moving images and still photos with objects creating singular settings and moods. Mysterious scenes materialize as the past intertwines with the present. Her works examine concepts such as longing, marginalization and transience, and form poetic entities that elude fixed readings."

"The exhibition comprises four installations. The latest piece Time – Borders, photographed and shot in Alaska, takes borders as its theme. Borders – tangible or conceptual – are endemic to human existence. By building unyielding barriers we often create antagonism; someone or something is excluded. But a life without boundaries falls on its own absurdity.  "In Time – Borders... birds specifically symbolize freedom and independence. Their flight through blue eternity seems to be unrestricted. Yet they congregate to form large flocks, in which individuality disappears and merges with others. Apparent freedom ultimately proves to be a prelude to unity based on diversity. This is also the case in human existence. Differences to the contrary, other people are a necessary part of meaningful life", writes art critic Leena Kuumola in the accompanying publication."

"Catarina Ryöppy (b. 1939) lives and works in Helsinki. She studied at Ecole des Beaux-Arts (1957–1961) in Lausanne, Switzerland, and debuted in 1960 at the Young Artists' Exhibition, Helsinki as well as at the Salon des Jeunes, Lausanne. Her works are represented in Finnish collections such as Helsinki City Art Museum, Museum for Contemporary Art Kiasma, Amos Anderson Art Museum, and international collections such as Ecole Cantonale des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne and the Pablo Neruda collection, Prague."

A meditative experience, my first encounter with Catarina Ryöppy. The exhibition was accompanied by a fine book with an essay by Marja-Terttu Kivirinta: "Humanity That Breathes Through Pictures. Disappeared, Lost, Or Otherwise Absent".