MIKA KARHUDrawings, photographs and video 3.2.2007 – 25.2.2007

Female Christ I, 2007
charcoal on paper
230 x 160 cm

My interest in strong emotional experiences beyond the processing capacity of the mind is the thematic starting point of my exhibition. Unarticulated events and experiences of our life story rise to awareness with their original power and control our chances of directing our lives.

Emotions, regulated by very complex factors, are the awareness of our bodies. The values, the psychodynamic factors and the historical situation prevalent in our living environment mould one ' s awareness and emotions. Emotional development, the process of events and the ability to express them are always tied to environment. Emotions are not processes born on their own.

The system called background emotions is controlled by processes that also regulate life itself. Background emotions are defined by various factors. Culture moulds the way emotions manifest themselves. This interacts with a one ' s ability to produce emotions appropriate to events.

In my work, I have looked for the background factors, with organicity and dependence as their pictorial metaphor. In Female Christ, the figure hanging from the upper part of the pictorial space compares with the tradition of sacrifice and suffering. In a global world, the ability to feel compassion is subject to demands for efficiency. This process, when understood in a wider sense, moulds cultural values where measuring and results form a background factor for evaluating one ' s life. Sometimes these processes, insuperable and unclear, are part of our life and guide it in a rather abstract way.

Mika Karhu

 
  • karhu/2007/KARHU-Female_Christ-1-2

    Female Christ I, 2007
    charcoal on paper
    230 x 160 cm

  • karhu/2007/KARHU-Female_Christ-2-2

    Female Christ II, 2007
    charcoal on paper
    230 x 160 cm

  • karhu/2007/KARHU-Female_Christ-3-2

    Female Christ III, 2007
    charcoal on paper
    230 x 160 cm

  • karhu/2007/KARHU-His_Fears

    His fears, 2006
    charcoal on paper
    225 x 160 cm

  • karhu/2007/KARHU-Cape

    Cape, 2006
    charcoal on paper
    230 x 160 cm

  • karhu/2007/KARHU-Tietoisuuden_ongelmia

    Problems of consciousness, 2006
    charcoal on paper
    245 x 160 cm

  • karhu/2007/KARHU-Artyva_paksusuoli

    Inflamed large intestine, 2007
    charcoal on paper
    250 x 160 cm

  • karhu/2007/KARHU_Rangaistus

    Punishment, 2007
    charcoal on paper
    230 x 160 cm

  • karhu/2007/KARHU_MAATUNUT-2007

    Mouldered, 2007
    pigment print on paper
    62 x 48 cm
    edition 6

  • karhu/2007/KARHU_EPAILYS-2007

    Doubt, 2007
    pigment print on paper
    62 x 48 cm
    edition 6

  • karhu/2007/KARHU_1918-NRO-II

    1918, nr II, 2007
    B/W-photograph
    126 x 177 cm
    edition 6

 
 
 
 
 
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