EMBERS
17.03.2022 to 03.04.2022
Galleria Himmelblau
ANNIINA NUMMELA
Anniina Nummela (b. 1998) is a visual artist. She works with mediums on mostly paper- and canvas-based works whilst occasionally engaging in photography, moving-image, and site-specific projects. Nummela’s work is recognised from her attention to detail and the meticulousness involved with her artmaking process, often spending dozens, if not hundreds of hours, on a single piece.
In the last few years, Nummela has shifted from creating autobiographical art to art that is more focused on heritage and cultural identity. Nummela grew up abroad and did not return to Finland, her birth country, until her late teens. The influences of her ‘third-culture-kid’ upbringing have been present in her work for years. Nummela has explored, for example, multiculturalism, cultural differences, and feelings of rootlessness in her art. Though still prevalent in her work, the framework surrounding these themes has evolved: her upbringing is now represented as an advantage, giving rise to a unique perspective on her cultural identity.
GOLDEN PLACES
Golden Places focuses on intergenerational relationships, memories by making art collaboratively. Nummela has worked with her grandparents to make four unique works, each a place-centric representation of a grandparent’s fondest childhood memory. The premise of the artwork was to create a dedicated setting for the artist to spend time and converse with her grandparents. A setting in which they could discuss the grandparents' lives and form new connections and shared memories.
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The project was collaborative throughout – Nummela’s grandparents took part in the ideation phase and the active making of the art pieces. Each piece was personalised to reflect the grandparent’s craft or creative self-expression in addition to their relationship to the artist. The parts of the artwork are named after the grandparents: Vesa, Terttu, Rauno, and Leena.
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The mediums and techniques are embroidery on hand-painted Aida-fabric, a memoir written out by hand onto paper, a 1980s painting reimagined digitally and printed onto a puzzle, and an acrylic and oil painting on canvas. Small golden details repeat throughout the works, symbolically tying the pieces together.
Though on the surface Golden Places is representational of happy and innocent childhood memories, the project is about forming deeper connections between grandchild and grandparent. Beginning the process with topics that were easy to talk about was a gateway into discussions and subject matters that would be difficult to bring up under other circumstances.