Vappu Johansson:
Echo Chamber

Perception is unsteady and sensitive to disturbance. From this arises the desire to capture a fleeting moment for closer examination. Change takes place before our eyes, and no matter how hard one tries, much remains unnoticed. I have attempted to grasp the rupture that falls between moments—the lapse in attention and the uncertainty that follows.

In the early years of moving images, Eadweard Muybridge (b. 1830) photographed sequences of motion in order to understand the nature of movement. The repetition of similar images also serves as a tool for me as I try to capture what is happening. In photographic series, details are preserved that before my eyes transform into something else. Yet the nature of time escapes us; the next moment does not float ahead, ready and waiting, but is an inevitable consequence of countless actions and coincidences.

Images of a burning candle, soap bubbles, or disturbances on a television screen become metaphors for the fragility of life and the transience of matter.

In the studio, repetitive movements help the brain slip into a state of rest. The mind follows the hands.
 

The works are photogravure-based intaglio prints mounted on honeycomb board. After that, I melt beeswax and add layers of images printed on thin Japanese papers to form a collage.

The Arts Promotion Centre Finland has supported the exhibition.