Elsa Salonen
Solve et coagula
26.03. – 23.04.2022
Galerie Jochen Hempel, Leipzig
Die Werke von Elsa Salonen sind das Ergebnis ihrer künstlerischen Interpretation alchemistischen Wissens. Die Künstlerin destilliert Farben aus Blumen, verarbeitet die Farben weiter und bleicht Pflanzen, um sie farblos erscheinen zu lassen. Darüber hinaus stellt sie ihre eigenen Pigmente aus einer Reihe spezifischer natürlicher Materialien her – von Meteoriten bis zu Fuchsknochen – je nach dem poetischen Konzept des jeweiligen Werks.
Auf der Suche nach dem Verständnis des uns umgebenden Universums untersuchten die mittelalterlichen Alchemisten natürliche Materialien, die sie auch zur Herstellung von Farben verwendeten. Ihr Ausspruch „Solve et coagula“ (lateinisch für auflösen und gerinnen) bezieht sich im Bereich der Natur auf den Kreislauf von Leben und Tod, auf das endlose Zerlegen und Wiederzusammensetzen organischer Materie.
Die in der Galerie Jochen Hempel gezeigten Schnittblumenarbeiten beruhen auf der Vorstellung, dass die meisten Organismen im Tod ihre Farben verlieren – Blumen verwelken und Körper bleichen. So werden alle Farben in der Natur zu Zeichen für das Vorhandensein von essentieller Lebensenergie. In den Zyklen der Natur verschwindet diese Energie nicht, sondern ändert ihre Erscheinungsform. Verrottende Organismen werden zur Materie für neues Leben, wie das mit Fuchsknochenasche bemalte Herbarium ‚Eighty Modest Statements about the Impossibility of Death‘ nahelegt.
Langfristig mag eine ganze Spezies aussterben, aber die Lebensenergie selbst besteht fort. Die Gemäldeserie ‚Stories Told by Stones‘ erinnert an die ausgestorbenen Pflanzen der tropischen Wälder der Karbonzeit, die vor rund 300 Millionen Jahren die heutige nördliche Hemisphäre begrünten. Die Steine, die als Farbpigmente für die Gemälde verwendet wurden, gab es schon damals – im Gegensatz zum Menschen.
Darüber hinaus ist bekannt, dass fast alle Elemente der lebenden Organismen von alten, toten Sternen stammen. Nach den besten wissenschaftlichen Schätzungen werden auch unsere Atome in ferner Zukunft ins All zurückkehren und möglicherweise neue Sterne bilden. Diese Theorie stand Pate für die mit Meteoriten gemalten Werke mit dem Titel „We Are All Made of Stardust“. Sowohl in kurzen als auch in unermesslich langen Zeiträumen manifestiert sich die Lebensenergie als ewig; sie löst sich endlos auf und gerinnt in dem Laborkolben, der das Universum ist.
Elsa Salonen (geb. 1984 in Turku, Finnland) schloss 2008 ihr Studium an der italienischen Akademie der schönen Künste in Bologna ab. In den letzten zehn Jahren hat sie hauptsächlich in Berlin gearbeitet. Arbeiten von Salonen wurden in vielen verschiedenen Institutionen ausgestellt, darunter die Schwartzsche Villa und der Kunstverein Wiesbaden in Deutschland, die Kunsthalle Viborg in Dänemark und das Miguel Urrutia Kunstmuseum in Bogotá. Ihre Arbeiten befinden sich in internationalen privaten und öffentlichen Sammlungen, darunter das finnische Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art, Turku, und das italienische Lissone Museum für zeitgenössische Kunst, Mailand.
Elsa Salonen’s works emerge from her artistic interpretation of alchemical knowledge. The artist distills colours from flowers, processes the colours further, and bleaches plants to make them appear entirely white. In addition, she prepares her own pigments from a range of specific natural materials – from meteorites to fox bones – according to the poetic concept of each work.
Seeking to understand the surrounding universe, medieval alchemists studied natural materials, which they also used to make colours. Their phrase ’Solve et coagula’ (Latin for dissolve and coagulate) refers, in the realm of nature, to the cycle of life and death; to the endless decomposing and recomposing of organic matter.
The cut flower works shown at the Gallery Jochen Hempel are based on a notion that most organisms seem to lose their colours in death – flowers wither and bodies blanch. Thus, all the colours in nature become signs of the presence of essential life energy. In cycles of nature, this energy doesn’t disappear but changes its form of manifestation. Mouldering organisms become matter for new life, as the herbarium painted with fox bone ash ‘Eighty Modest Statements about the Impossibility of Death’ suggests.
In the long run, an entire species might become extinct, but the life energy itself continues to thrive. The painting series ‘Stories Told by Stones’ resembles the extinct plants of the tropical forests of the Carboniferous Period, which around 300 million years ago greened the present northern hemisphere. The stones that were used as colour pigments for the paintings existed already back then – unlike humans.
Furthermore, almost all of the elements of living organisms are known to have originated from ancient, dead stars. According to the best scientific estimate, our atoms will also, in the distant future, return to space and possibly form new stars. This theory was the inspiration for the body of works painted with meteorites and entitled ‘We Are All Made of Stardust’. Both in short and in immeasurably long time frames, life energy manifests itself as eternal; endlessly dissolving and coagulating in the laboratory flask that is the universe.
Elsa Salonen (b. 1984 in Turku, Finland) graduated from the Italian academy of fine arts of Bologna in 2008. During the last decade, she has been mainly working in Berlin. Works by Salonen have been widely featured in many different institutions, including Schwartzsche Villa and Kunstverein Wiesbaden in Germany, Viborg art hall in Denmark, and the Miguel Urrutia art museum in Bogotá. Her work is held in international private and public collections, including Finland’s Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art, Turku, and Italy’s Lissone Museum of Contemporary Art, Milan. At the moment she is part of two group exhibitions; ‘Landscapes of Belonging’ at KINDL Centre For Contemporary Art in Berlin and ‘MMM4’ at Art Sonje Center in Seoul, South Korea.
CURRENT
5.3. – 3.7.2022, Group Show: Landscapes of Belonging, KINDL Centre For Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany / curated by Christine Nippe and Kathrin Becker
15.3. – 24.4.2022, Group Show: Minimalism-Maximalism-Mechanismmm Part 4, Art Sonje Center, Seoul, South Korea / curated by Mikkel Elming
Works and Installation Views
TALK ME ART
CV
Born 1984 in Turku, Finland
Lives and works in Berlin and Finland
EDUCATION
2007 – 2008
Exchange Student, Berlin Weissensee
2004 – 2008
Fine Arts Academy of Bologna, Italy, BA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021
Buni Buana (Hidden World), WAMx, Turku City Art Museum, Finland / curated by Ece Pazarbaşı
Distilling the Essence of the Seas, Ama Gallery, Helsinki
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
2022
Landschaften der Zugehörigkeit, KINDL Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst, Berlin, DE / curated by Christine Nippe und Kathrin Becker
Minimalism-Maximalism-Mechanismmm Part 4, Art Sonje Center, Seoul, Südkorea / curated by Mikkel Elming
2021
Dream Baby Dream, HilbertRaum, Berlin / curated by Niina Lehtonen Braun
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, Kindl -Centre for Contemporary Art, Berlin / curated by Daniela Hermosilla
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 together 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, together 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
Drawing As a Source of a Sound, a performance in collaboration with Francesco Cavaliere, Flow Festival, Helsinki
Portrait of the Artist into the Objective, an exhibition of six young video artists for the memory of Nam June Paik, 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
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
PUBLICATIONS
2019
Stories Told by Stones, Edition Cantz
LECTURES AND TEACHING ASSIGNMENTS
2020
Lecture: Historias contadas por las piedras y otros relatos, H-Residency, Calama, Chile
Lecture: Veden väelle – For the Water Sprites, in collaboration with folklore scholar Kaarina Koski, Aboagora, Turku, Finland
Lecture: Afloat Assembly, Germany / curated by Christian Lübbert
Lecture: Creative Ecosystem; Soul, Art, Animism and Sisterhood, Studio Emmi, London
Workshop: Natural Colours: Focus Sea, Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel, Germany
2019
Lecture: How to Enlarge Your Bubble?, University of Fine Arts Poznan, Poland
PRESS