Sirkku Ketola performance and exhibition: “A Body Called Paula”

Sirkku Ketola performance and exhibition: A Body Called Paula GÜ Gallery, ARS Art Factory 2.09- 16.09.2023

You are invited to the opening of the SIrkku Ketola exhibition on Tuesday, 5.09 at 17:30!

The opening of the exhibition is preceded by daily performance printing sessions, during which the work of the exhibition is born. Everyone is kindly invited to the performance on Saturday 2.09, Sunday 4.09, Tuesday 5.09 and Thursday 6.09 at 12:00-15:00.

Sirkku Ketola’s work consists of visual poems and situations. Time and repetition are her main questions – the Universe is an ornament repeating itself. Ketola is extremely happy to present her long-term project A Body Called Paula in Tallinn. A Body Called Paula, is an installation based on repetition and a meditative performance in which Ketola, taking the role of Paula, works on a large ornament on fragile paper. Paula is an allegory of a human as part of the universe and as a builder of technology. With the help of serigraphy, her hands and the space form a human printer, a sensual machine.
Paula is enchanted with the ribbons, trapped in the activity and fettered by the body and matter. In Finnish the word paula is a synonym to a ribbon and a trap. The performance parts Light, Passion, Knowledge and Darkness symbolizes the elements of full life. Tension is always present in the seemingly calm performance as the characteristics of the matter are in danger of being revealed when the fragile paper gets stuck. The ethereal soundscape of the performance has been created by Ketola.

A Body Called Paula, begun in 2017, is a ten-year long process. Every year three to four ornament ribbons are created in different parts of the world. The performance is physically demanding and the endurance of the artist’s hands determine the rhythm. The long timeline allows to override the control and lets the work itself find its essential form and dialogue. The task of the artist is only to maintain the movement.
A Body Called Paula performance schedule for the Gü gallery. You can freely browse the work just for a while, or you can stay with it even longer (duration approx. 3 hours / performance):

SCHEDULE
Saturday, 02.9 at 1 p.m. - LIGHT
Monday, 04.09 at 12- PASSION
Tuesday 05.09 at 12- KNOWLEDGE
Wednesday 06.09 at 12 - DARKNESS / Work completes, the exhibition is ready.

Warmly welcome to see the changes during the performances and the exhibition!

Sirkku Ketola (b.1973) is a contemporary printmaker who combines serigraphy with different materials. She is a civilized savage who slows down the digital image stream through handicraft methods, trying to understand the relationship between human rhythm and matter. Ketola earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts and she has taken part in numerous Finnish and international projects and exhibitions. She lives and works in Turku and occasionally in Brussels. The artist’s work has been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland and A Body Called Paula project by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland and The Finnish Cultural Foundation.

More information:
sirkkuketola@gmail.com , www.sirkkuketola.com, Instagram: #abodycalledpaula

Sirkku Ketola's exhibition and performance is part of the autumn program of international workshops and exhibitions of the Association of Estonian Printmakers. Keep yourself informed about the following events on the website www.estonianprintmakers.ee