ART CENTER AHJO, KYTÖ/LIEKKI-SPACE: NINNI WAGER

Ninni Wager presents the work Fata Morgana at the Ahjo Art Center, which consists of a dramatized sculpture and an analog transforming reflection.

Rubber boots step in a puddle, the surface of which reflects a moving image onto the wall. The work is realized in a dialogue between boots, puddle, light and mechanism. The exhibition intertwines the fabled charm of puddle play – the clumsy, air-suspended machinery of boots – and the reflection, forming an allegory of the discrepancy between the inner and outer worlds.

Fata Morgana refers to a mirage phenomenon seen at sea, in which an island or boat appears to float above the water, as if gravity were behaving exceptionally at that particular point. In the work, in the mirage-like reflection, something familiar appears familiar and strange at the same time.

The clumsily moving boots, controlled by a machine, and the light reflections of the puddle form an abstract dramaturgy. As the boot rises, the water surrounding it moves both outwards and inwards, and the suction is felt deep in the pit of the stomach, like an inner emotional surge. The opposing forces in the movement of the water are revealed in the reflection, although they are barely noticeable on the surface of the water. The bubbles appear in the shadows as small islands that pop and disappear as quickly as they were created.

The artist has directed the work to begin, but it continues independently, repeating the instructions given to it, without a body. At times, the boots quietly rest against each other.

Ninni Wager (b. 1983) is a Helsinki-based artist whose work delves into the poetry of events. Working with animated sculpture, video, installations and small publications, Wager transforms internalized information and visions into works of art. Her practice opens up a poetic space of perception – one that invites us to experience the multi-layered depths of fleeting moments through sustained wonder. Wager holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki and is a member of Finnish and Hungarian artist organizations (MUU ry, Yö ry, FKSE). Her works have been presented at Porvoo Art Hall, Ateneum Art Museum (Helsinki) and Kis Celli Museum (Budapest), among others. She is currently completing postgraduate studies in the specialization training of art expert in public art at the University of the Arts Helsinki. The training is a collaboration project with Aalto University and the University of Lapland. Wager is also active in the collaborative artist collectives Airbakers and Vurr.

https://ninniwager.wordpress.com/