Elsa Salonen
Works
About
Elsa Salonen (b.1984 Turku, Finland) prepares the pigments for her works by grinding a wide variety of raw materials, such as meteorites and seashells, as well as by extracting colours from plants and algae. She views the pigments as collaborators whose ‘experiences’ define the conceptual message of each work. For example, she has used stones which are millions of years old as pigments, to depict the lost landscapes of the Carboniferous Period (Stories Told by Stones, 2018), and burned fox bones to paint a herbarium that reflects on the circle of life (Eighty Modest Statements About the Impossibility of Death, 2013). She gathered many of the materials herself at natural sites around the world, where the more unique materials are collected with the help of specialists.
In addition, Salonen distills colours from flowers and bleach plants to make them appear entirely white. The technique is based on a notion that most organisms, both in the plant and the animal world, seem to lose their colours in death – flowers wither and bodies blanch. Thus, all the colours in nature signal the presence of life energy. The result in her three-dimensional paintings is a poetic separation of the vivid life energy (the preserved colours) from their empty, pale bodies (the bleached flowers), such as in Study of Eternal Cycle (2014) and Flower Painting, the Act of Immortalising (2017). Salonen’s practice draws on the traditions of painting, installation, and conceptual art. The works are marked by the influences of science, animism, and alchemy.
Elsa Salonen graduated from the Fine Arts Academy of Bologna in 2008 and has been based in Berlin over the past decade. Salonen has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions with institutions including, KINDL Centre For Contemporary Art, Kunstverein Wiesbaden and Schwartzsche Villa in Germany; Art Sonje Center in South Korea; Kunsthal Aarhus and Kunsthal Viborg in Denmark and Miguel Urrutia Art Museum in Colombia. Awards have been received from Artist Grant Finland, Art Promotion Centre Finland, Finnish Cultural Foundation and National Art Award, Italy and her work is held in international private and public collections, including Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art and Saastamoinen Foundation in Finland and Lissone Museum of Contemporary Art in Italy.
CV
Born 1984 in Turku, Finland
The studio is located in Berlin, Germany
EDUCATION
2007 – 2008
Exchange Student, Berlin Weissensee
2004 – 2008
Fine Arts Academy of Bologna, Italy, BA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022
Solve et coagula, Jochen Hempel Gallery, Leipzig, Germany
2021
Distilling the Essence of the Seas, Ama Gallery, Helsinki
Buni Buana (Hidden World), WAMx, Turku City Art Museum, Finland/ curated by Ece Pazarbaşı
2019
Stories Told by Stones, Schwartzsche Villa, Berlin / curated by Christine Nippe
2017
Studies of the Eternal Cycle, Ama Gallery, Helsinki
2016
Guided by the Stars of the Southern Hemisphere, Acud Macht Neu, Berlin / curated by Johannes Braun
2015
La natura (mai) morta, Adiacenze, Bologna
2013
Alkuaineissa rukouksen kaltaista kajoa, Ama Gallery, Helsinki
2012
I Walk in the Forest as in a Temple II, Galerie Suvi Lehtinen, Berlin
I Walk in the Forest as in a Temple I, Grimmuseum, Berlin
2010
Muuttolinnun kaksi auraa, Ama Gallery, Helsinki
2008
When My Loved Ones Were an Hour Ahead, Ama Gallery, Helsinki
2007
Her Illness Changed Her Way (to Comprehend), Neon Campobase, Bologna
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
Minimalism-Maximalism-Mechanismmm Part 4, Kunsthal Aarhus, curated by Mikkel Elming, Aarhus, DK
2022
nature morte – still alive, Stadtgalerie Kiel, curated by Ritva Röminger-Czako, Kiel, DE
Når vi har smøget livets lænker af Sydhavnstation, Copenhagen, DK
Minimalism-Maximalism-Mechanismmm, Kunsthal Aarhus, DK
Bodies of Water, Kunstpavillon, Innsbruck, AT
nature morte – still alive, Stadtgalerie Kiel, DE
Landscapes of Belonging, KINDL Centre For Contemporary Art, Berlin / curated by Christine Nippe and Kathrin Becker
Minimalism-Maximalism-Mechanismmm Part 4, Art Sonje Center, Seoul, South Korea / curated by Mikkel Elming
2021
Wachsende Formen – Organische Prozesse in der Kunst, Heidenheim Art Museum, Germany / curated by Marco Hompes
The Brief History of a New Perspective in Painting, Lissone Museum of Contemporary Art, Milan / curated by Alberto Zanchetta
Inhottava mysteeri, Ama Gallery, Helsinki
We are not sure if the show will still be open tomorrow, Jochen Hempel Gallery, Leipzig, Germany
2020
you’ve got mail!, Mail Art Project, Germany / curated by Julia Katharina Thiemann
2019
Ocean Dwellers, The Nordic Embassies in Berlin / curated by Solvej Helweg Ovesen
Polisemia, Galerìa del Colombo Americano de Medellín, Colombia / curated by Ricardo Moreno
2018
Polisemia, El Parqueadero – Miguel Urrutia Art Museum, Bogotá / curated by Ricardo Moreno
New Materialism, Fata Morgana, Berlin
IXION, Lissone Museum of Contemporary Art, Milan
2017
Corridor III: Valdemar Daa, Viborg Kunsthal, Denmark / curated by Insitu Collective
The Seekers, tȇte, Berlin
Transitions Ep. 2: Excavations, Galerie Dada Post, Berlin / curated by Sheena Malone
Corridor II: Pachamama, Insitu, Berlin
2016
It’s all natural, Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden / curated by Evelyn König
Approaching Plant Consciousness, Prinzessinnengärten, Berlin
Dolosa Oscura, Schillerpalais, Berlin / curated by Filmouflage
Pilgrimage, The Finnish Institute, Berlin / curated by Sabine Meister
2015
Muodonvaihdos, Turku Book Fair, a performance in collaboration with poet Katariina Vuorinen / curated by Art Promotion Centre Finland
2014
Bilder zwischen den Zeilen, part II, The Finnish Institute, Berlin / curated by Eemil Karila
Bilder zwischen den Zeilen, part I, Salon Dahlmann, Berlin / curated by Eemil Karila
Ghostwriter Project, Action #1, Alt Kindl Brauerei, Berlin / curated by Greta Rusttt
Ciò che l’apparire lascia trasparire, Lissone Museum of Contemporary Art, Milan / curated by Alberto Zanchetta
Duo exhibition with Andreco, Setup Art Fair, Bologna / curated by Adiacenze
Levottomuudet, Salo Art Museum, Finland / curated by Veikko Halmetoja
2013
Pyhäniemen kartanon kesänäyttely, Pyhäniemi, Finland / curated by Riikka Latva-Somppi
2012
Premio Lissone, Lissone Museum of Contemporary Art, Milan
2011
Falling Levitation, with Keiko Kimoto, Kartüche Gallery, Berlin
2010
Between Two Cities, G11, Berlin
2009
Anonyme Zeichner N°10, Kunstraum Kreuzberg / Bethanien, Berlin
Mänttä Art Festival, Tunteiden ekologia, Mänttä, Finland / curated by Tuula Karjalainen
2007
The Memories, Night of the Arts, Helsinki / curated by Suvi Saloniemi
Con -the Serie of Five, with Francesco Cavaliere, Imaginaria Film Festival, Bari, Italy
Hdemia Contemporanea, Chiesa del San Paolo, Modena, Italy
2006
Drawing As a Source of a Sound, a performance in collaboration with Francesco Cavaliere, Galerie En Marge, Paris
Digital Fringe, Melbourne, Australia
Portrait of the Artist into the Objective, Acciaiolo Castle, Florence / curated by Pietro Gaglianò
2004
The Anniversary Exhibition of the Art Guild of Turku, Gallery Just, Turku, Finland
WORKS IN COLLECTIONS
Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art, Turku, Finland
Lissone Museum of Contemporary Art, Milan, Italy
Saastamoinen Foundation, Finland
Paulo Foundation, Finland
Italian Ministry of Education
Art Association of Finland
Finnish Literature Society
AWARDS
2006
Premio Nazionale delle Arti (National Art Award for Art Students), The First Premium of Communication, Italy
GRANTS
2022
Art Promotion Centre Finland
FRAME Finnish Fund for Art Exchange
2021
Art Promotion Centre Finland
2020
Art Promotion Centre Finland
2019
Finnish Cultural Foundation
Art Promotion Centre Finland
FRAME Finnish Fund for Art Exchange
2018
Art Promotion Centre Finland
2017
Art Promotion Centre Finland
2016
Finnish Cultural Foundation
Art Promotion Centre Finland
2015
FRAME Finnish Fund for Art Exchange
2014
Finnish Art Society
Art Promotion Centre Finland
Cultural Board of the City of Turku
2013
Art Promotion Centre Finland
2012
Alfred Kordelin Foundation
Finnish Cultural Foundation
Paulo Foundation
FRAME Finnish Fund for Art Exchange
Turun Saskiat
2011
Cultural Board of the City of Turku
Regional Arts Council of South-West Finland
2010
Finnish Cultural Foundation
2009
Alfred Kordelin Foundation
RESIDENCIES
2018
Puerto Contemporáneo / El Kruce, Cartagena, Colombia
2016
Lugar a Dudas, Cali, Colombia
2014
Sewon Art Space, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
2013
Künstlerhaus Schloß Wiepersdorf, Germany
2007
Student Residence, Nosadella.due, Bologna, Italy
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2017
Science and Mysticism, talk, screening and lecture with Ph.D. researcher Nina Kokkinen (specialised in esotericism in the Finnish art) and emeritus professor of space astronomy Esko Valtaoja, Ama gallery and Ursa observatory, Helsinki
2016
Approaching Plant Consciousness, mini-conference in collaboration with Filipe-Guilherme Pirl, Regina Rørstad and Aniella Tiedje, Prinzessinnengärten, Berlin
Thinking Like a Forest, screening event in collaboration with Lauren Reid, Acud Macht Neu, Berlin