Irma Tonteri:
TEMPORARILY PERMANENT

Time is usually perceived as a steady flow defined by years, seasons, or the clock, where everything happens in a certain order. However, the concept of time is a relative construct, dependent in many ways on circumstances, moments, and various conditions. Subjective and biological time change as we age; the flow of time seems to accelerate, and this cannot go unnoticed. What once felt permanent now appears temporary. 

All completed works, as well as failed experiments, detours, and coincidences, speak of lived moments and time that has passed. What has been done before leads to present solutions; nothing arises from nothing. For this exhibition, I have dismantled many old works to their original elements in order to reuse the materials. Each batch of prepared material carries its own history—the time spent working, thoughts, plans, memories, a sense of touch, and even its own scent. 

My works are not narratives, even though they may carry visual messages for the viewer. For me as the maker, my interest lies in the process rather than the final presentation. I understand that I am dealing more with matters than with objects. I do not aim to create something permanently finished but rather leave my works open, allowing for change even later on. 

The central piece of this exhibition, in the form of an artist’s book titled Unfinished Images, is made from some of the scraps of paper I have stored in boxes and in a small case labeled "little treasures." By using these leftover pieces, I have been processing the themes of letting go, disappearance, and continuity while at the same time reducing the accumulation of works and materials gathered over decades. 

The material and content of my works speak of the same things: paper is ephemeral, changeable in form, easily torn, flammable—and ultimately biodegradable. Recycling is ecological, and paper, as the main material in my works, is easily transformable.