In essence, a combination of artworks presented at the exhibition is dealing with the concept of the car – the feelings and fantasies of freedom, independence and power associated with owning and using it and being a passenger. On another level artworks bring awareness of the self-destructiveness, unsustainability and temporary nature of our lifestyles. The creative process was inspired by retro futuristic fantasies, cyborgs and transformers and how they are manifested in motoring today.

Why has the car become such a significant part of our identity and why the changes related to it are so difficult to accept?

TYÖMAA (construction site) group: Andrei Bakharev (sculptor), Mari Kämäräinen (artistic director, performance artist), Hannu Seppälä (sound artist), Lydia Toivanen (photo artist)

The group has been operating since 2021 and its debut exhibition TYÖMAA was on display in the Titanik-gallery in Turku in 9/2022. “Emotions related to motoring” is the group’s second joint work.

Andrei Bakharev (b. 1981 in St. Petersburg) mainly works with sculpture and especially wood carving. He began his art studies at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts and graduated with a master’s degree in fine arts from the Helsinki Academy of Fine Arts in 2008. The artist has been involved in many environmental art projects and, starting in 2022, has worked in e.g. Elonkirjo-taidepuisto project funded by the Kone Foundation in Koroinen, Turku. His works have been exhibited in numerous exhibitions both in Finland and abroad.

Mari Kämäräinen (b. 1987 in Vaala) works with the means of performance and drawing and makes environmental art and spatial works both by herself and as part of multi disciplinary art work groups. She graduated as a visual artist from the Turku Academy of Arts in 2015. Kämäräinen collaborates with e.g. the Northern Opera Company in her home region in Northern Ostrobothnia. With the sound artist Hannu Seppälä, she has realized several joint works and exhibitions. They have been involved in e.g. the ”Book of Rooms” production, which was awarded the 2021 State Prize for the Performing Arts.

Hannu Seppälä (b. 1980 in Oulu) is a sound artist who works on musical and performative solo projects as well as collaborative projects in visual arts and theater. The cooperation with Mari Kämäräinen has continued since 2018. Seppälä has also had a long-term collaboration with visual artist Eero Yrjölä. The most recent theater sound design works have been Tehdas Theater’s productions “Yksin ihminen” in 2022 and “Gilgamesh – Mortal” in 2023.

Lydia Toivanen (b. 1987 in Kerava) is a visual artist whose primary media are photography and video. Her main tool is the smartphone, the use of which raises questions relating to the aesthetics, ethics and purpose of photography. Her works explore her background in a religious community and an extended family. Toivanen is completing her studies at Aalto University in the master’s program in photography.