My first solo exhibition at Garden of Tears took place at Visningrommet USF 1.-10.3.2024
I used to visit them all the time
these strong creatures
it took me eight summers to find the path that leads to their realm
I spent week after week mapping the rocks underneath
(those fish needed to get used to me)
black waterlily emerged in my dream telling me to follow the shiny fish
I started to pay more attention to how light reflects underneath
it was only when my favourite pony died
I was crying by the water
Garden of Tears is a place where fairy horses, mermaids and sea monsters live. It is a place where it is allowed to be sad, broken or lost.
inspired by childhood play, years of daydreaming and being a horsegirl
Kukka, 2023
interactive sculpture, wood, textiles
Kukka greets you with kindness. Horses are gentle creatures, you are welcome to softly pet her. She also has a thing for flowers- you are welcome to decorate her mane and tail with these crocheted flowers.
Sad Blue Sea Monster, 2023
interactive sculpture, paper mache, textiles
Seamonster knows that crying is healing. Why have you cried? Feel free to share your tears in Diary of Tears <3
Merenkehto, 2022
interactive sculpture, wood, textiles,sound 11 min
Calm mermaid friend invites you to rest.Lay down to listen to a bedtime story from realm of mermaids.
You can also perform a spell for letting go; focus on one thing of your life you are ready to let go of, something you don’t want to carry with you anymore. Let it flow through your body while holding a piece of fabric hair. Attach it to the mermaid’s head so she can carry your troubles for you. Every evening she will dive into an ocean of tears to wash
https://www.visningsrommet-usf.no/sonja-ovaskainen/
https://subjekt.no/2024/02/29/dette-er-utstillingene-du-ma-fa-med-deg-i-bergen-denne-uken-3/
'Good Guy' is a sculptural sound installation, a utopist garden where misogynic structures only exist in the minds of harmless fictional trolls. These creatures have been cursed to accompany each other for eternity. This work is my way of coping with the traumas of sexual violence and the misogynistic culture we live in.
sound piece (duration: 5:55 ) based on material collected from personal conversations and internet comment sections
A few nights ago I had a fever dream about one of them. In the dream, I had a plan of how to make him confess. In the dream, there was this lake that would make everyone who swam in it unable to lie. The plan was to lure him into the lake so he would confess what he did to me. In this dream I was able to fly, I even had a pair of wings so I wasn’t scared of anyone.
For some dream logic reason, he was invited to the museum. The plan was that instead of the tour guide, I would show up. And when he would try to attack again I could just fly that high that he could not reach me.
And then he would chase me all the way to the lake.
But something went wrong. His presence was much scarier than I remembered. He was too fast and I didn`t have enough time to fly high enough. I managed to stay just above him in the air. He was able to scratch my ankles with his nails. He kept screaming I could feel the anger radiating from him.
The surroundings kept crumbling, I was flying in the staircase at the beginning then out of the window. All the time just out of his reach. Then I woke up. He wasn’t able to catch me, I was able to escape with my wings.
But I never managed to bring him to the lake.
In Norway only one in 10 women who are raped report rape to the police and between 75% and 80% of investigated cases are closed by public prosecutor and never reach the stage of prosecution. Of those that do reach the courts, a recent study documents that 30% of rape cases end in acquittal.- Amnesty International
exhibited in Lydgalleiret 28.8. part of Prøverommet event
Sad Blue Sea Monster (the bimbo editon) at OVE galleri part of the show PLEASURE 29.5.2023
Bimbos just wanna cry. It's okay to be broken: to be hysteric, to be mentally ill. Give yourself time to heal. Get self-made tattoos and free those nipples. Once you're fed up with everything give yourself a haircut and masturbate. You were never the issue the society is. Sad Blue Sea Monster is here for you. By the Monster, you will find the Diary of Tears where you can leave your sorrows
Merenkehto ( The cradle of the ocean)
Merenkehto is a soft textile-based sculpture/mermaid. The work is focused on playing, healing, and interacting.
Lay down to listen to a bedtime story of mermaids. The sound piece includes a story that my mother used to tell me ( and some a mermaid singing). The work also invites you to do a spell of letting go; focus on one thing of your life you are ready to let go of, something you don’t want to carry with you anymore. Let it flow through your body while holding a piece of fabric hair. Attach it to the mermaid’s head so they can carry your troubles for you. Every evening she will dive into an ocean of tears to wash your worries away.
Listen the bedtime story that was part of the installation
The installation was part of Picnic Ma Exhibition at Bergen Kunsthall 8.4-8.5.2022
article about the exhibition 1
article about the exhibition 2
Photos 1, 2 and 6 by Bjarte Bjørkum
I am all blue now, 2021
#alopecia
kept running faster
It felt like my whole body was on fire, shaking
I didn’t feel the movement
I didn’t feel my feet pounding the ground
there was just the heartbeat, pounding sound
blood rushing
the explosion at my muscles
I am not sure am I breathing
-there’s this burning feeling in my lungs
finally, I see the ocean-it is as restless as I
it is looking me like an angry parent
wondering where I`ve been
yes I weren’t meant to walk
I am tearing my clothes off
like they’d be something that burns my skin
finally, my clothes are lying next to me on the ground
the pile of fabric that others used for defining me
my mind feels finally numb
my body is starting to wake
shivering for exhaustion
I smell saltwater
the wind is surrounding me gently
pushing me towards the waves
I took moment to finally breath
embrace of letting go
I know after id break the restless surface of the ocean
I take my true form
the waves are hitting me at first
then washing my feet away
I am all blue now
somehow with wings, I would not feel that cold night air
I heard wind singing
I landed at this meadow- full of flower there I found you
creature of both air and water, carrying me away
now we are heading at the ocean
I have been always feeling safe in the water
Mixed media installation exhibited at Bergen Kjøtt part of MA1 show “ Zip friction” 2021. Work is based on childhood dreams wanting to create a safe environment to play.
nonsensescreenshots, is a virtual autobiography;- I want to research how I am personally defining/ being defined through the screen.
Our properties and skills are related to something. A newborn sees themselves as part of their mother (mirror self-recognition test,MSR), the child reflects themselves through how their parents react to them. Terms such as personality and self-image are complex and layered. Every experience is subjective and therefore any attempt at reaching a total understanding with another mind (shared experience) feels unreachable. Still, the need to feel understood, the need to find connection stays.
While filters are drawing our outlines, we keep searching for someone to define us.
nonsensescreenshots, exhibited 2021 at Galleri FI4E
According to modern science, human awareness is located in our brains. But that idea when viewing thought our everyday life experience feels odd, - to think that awareness is located in physical material. Having subjective self-consciousness feels apparent, but describing it verbally feels difficult. By describing new visual methods by reaching on topics such as “self ” and “identity” are, it is possible to create artwork that gives you comfort at an individual level. It also tries to capture humanity as such on a wilder perspective.
At my work Outlines-they keep defining me, (2020) I am researching these themes by combining photography and plaster sculptures. By contrasting these materials, I want to create a dialogue between one’s ideal self and one`s physical outlines. I want to make a conversation between ideal and real. The artwork is research of interface between a digital image and physical sculpture-like elements. The final work is questioning the similarity of the subjective experience of self and the modern concept of physicality.
BA-Thesis for Lahti University for Applied Sciences
(This elements has not been installed yet combined because of this situation with COVID-19)
All this need to happen before.
It often feels like society is telling us how we aren`t able to be truly happy unless we have a partner. Someone Who gives us that fairytale ending, someone with you are supposed to start a family. I am going to meet you in 2022 is a documentary project about the feeling of being in-between and daring to be alone.
They told me that being me was something to be ashamed of. Now I keep losing. Searching. Defining my outlines.
This work is based on my personal experience of having a situation where I felt like I was unfitting as a human. I was bullied in middle school for being too tall to be a woman. I ended up reflecting those feelings through my self-image. I ended up experiencing body distortion.
Work is exploring themes around womanhood, identity, gender. It is also exploring new ways to express self-image.
Series has two chapters ”treating my womanhood” and ”meat around me. Both parts have been installed once separately.
