I spent a dark November at the Creative Space Residence in Hakoniemi, North Karelia. In addition, Marie Schwab, a German art student of visual arts and Hilla Väyrynen, a sound designer, musician and psychology student. Hakoniemi is a peninsula and farm located in the inland archipelago of Northern Saimaa. The residence is quiet and remote, the nearest shop to Rääkkylä is nine kilometers away. In Hakoniemi you will find a renovated house, a work space, four saunas and a gallery space in the barn (used in summer). Working at the residency was made possible by TAIKE’s Korona Grant 2021.

During the residency i worked on future works. Me and Hilla Väyrynen worked on a site specific sound installation “Table for Two”. Its a tarot reading that combines music, randomness and the tradition of Tarot card reading by taking advantage of its archetypal catalogs and projective character. The work will be on display at the Music Department of the Turku City Library from 12 August 2022 to 9 September 2022 and at the Kallio Library in Helsinki from 6 October to 9 November 2022.

I was also working on a project called “Know Your Mind” in collaboration with Akasaka / Gill Crabbe. The title Know your mind refers to a kind and knowing quality of awareness that is not fixed but simply recognising what’s present; moment by moment experience. I met Gil at the AARK art residence in 2020, where we collaborated with rituals, shared our artistic knowledge and deepened our understanding of interpersonal depth. We contemplated on how art and mind/meditation overlap, how our many years of meditation and art practice can be translated into a vehicle to express our human potentiality deeply.

What opens a link between art and me? Where does the image/mind exist? We want to expose the visitor to the felt space between the subject and object in a safe and meaningful way?