Arttu Merimaa (Finland) - Laura Pawela (Poland) - Milja Viita (Finland)
Arttu Merimaa (b.1983 in Pori) graduated from the School of Art and Media at The Tampere University of Applied Sciences in 2007. Merimaa works with installations and moving image. He is interested in identity, love, violence, and the reality penetrated by culture and media. In early 2010, his series of works titled Nonchalant, that examines the tension between intimacy and indifference, premiered in a solo exhibition at the Kluuvi Gallery in Helsinki. The works of Merimaa have been showcased at Mänttä Art Festival and at Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art. He has held solo exhibitions in Helsinki, Pori and Tampere. Together with Miina Hujala Merimaa runs the Alkovi Gallery in Helsinki. www.arttumerimaa.net
Laura Pawela (b. 1977 in Rybnik) is an artist whose catalogue includes video art, sculpture and paintings as well as installations. She studied at the Opole University, graduated as a sculptor from the Academy of Art and Design in Wroclaw, and has complemented her professional training with cultural marketing studies. In addition to Poland, Pawela has held solo exhibitions in Slovakia, The United Kingdom and Argentina, and participated in group exhibitions within and outside Europe. In 2010, her works were featured at the Ars Homo Erotica Exhibition in the Polish National Museum in Warsaw. Pawela’s versatile work reflects simultaneous visual joy and beauty as well as makes critical remarks. www.laurapawela.com
Milja Viita (b.1974 in Karjalohja) graduated from the time and space arts programme of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2005. She lives in Karkkila and works with film, video, photography, text and sound. She has held solo exhibitions at Galleria Huuto and Kluuvi Gallery among others. Viita has also participated in group exhibitions at Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Kunsthalle in Helsinki, Mänttä Art Festival and at the Suomesta Gallery in Berlin, as well as many video and media art festivals both in Finland and abroad. In 2009, Viita won a media art competition arranged by the Artists’ Association Muu and the Siemenpuu Foundation with her work Linnunlaulun kotiinpaluu (The Return of the Birdsong), which has been exhibited in Science Center Heureka among other venues. Visual storytelling that gives significance to memories and small everyday phenomena is typical for Viita’s work. www.miljaviita.com
Photos: Jan Virtanen 2010
