AARON HEINOI Believe – Maybe I Believe 10.8.2024 – 1.9.2024

The works in my exhibition deal with ethics, religion and religious practices, as well as our assumed right to borrow canons and rites from other cultures and religions. They also examine faith and belief from the perspective of upbringing. How should we live as human beings? How does the family believe we should live and think? Are these values determined even before a child is born? Is our aim to raise children to live according to these beliefs? What feelings of shame and fear might arise as a result?

Through my exhibition, I hope for viewers to consider whether social media posts, likes and online validation represent new secular sacraments and bedtime prayers for contemporary people.

The environment in which we grow up is a prime example of social grouping, yet it is increasingly common to encounter individuals who are unable to cope with their own being and thoughts. Our ability to engage in true self-reflection is restricted by the need for constant interaction and the urge to follow the lives of others. Being active on social media and immersing oneself in the virtual world of games are, in addition to various controlled substances, means to escape reality and routine. Our existence is determined by the sequence of numbers of which we are comprised as we move in space-time. Our presence and perception of existence is like a two-dimensional, odourless and tasteless experience of otherness and self, transmitted by LED lights.

Some of my works deal with the rights of individuals to live as they choose, as well as the sustainability of the choices we make in the illusory reality of today. We are free to choose from an infinite number of options, which may create a void of values, resulting in a loss of understanding of the true motives of our choices and their effects on others. When problems arise, our understanding is limited to the sphere of the rights that we have created ourselves. We are more prone to forget the legacy that we will leave to others through our choices. Where does our self begin and end, and when have we entered the realm of otherness?

Aaron Heino

Sculptor Aaron Heino (b. 1977) graduated from Lahti Institute of Design and Fine Arts in 2002. He won the Fine Arts Academy of Finland's award in 2019, which was accompanied by an extensive exhibition at EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art in autumn 2021. Heino has always dealt with his own life and relationships in his works. His sculptures have been characterised by playfulness in regards to styles, motifs, materials, methods and naming the works.