Small Shifts

Small Shifts is the fourteenth joint exhibition by the three visual artists. Comprising textile artworks, color paper cutouts, and video installations, the exhibition explores themes such as relationships with loved ones, nature, and culture. The group has been working together since 2018, and each exhibition emerges as a unique whole shaped by its venue and chosen theme. 

Silja Puranen, Leena Illukka, Virpi Vesanen-Laukkanen

Leena Illukan (b. 1962) Leena Illukka’s collage-like works unfold as temporal palimpsests, where layers of past and present are interwoven. Illukka works with repurposed wall textiles as her foundation, deconstructing, mending, and reassembling the material, and hand-embroidering over the original imagery to imbue it with new layers of meaning. Her works evoke humanity, memories, imagination, and forgotten emotions. Illuka's main technique is embroidery, which she uses in sculpture, photography and multi-part textile series.

Illukka on valmistunut kuvataiteilijaksi Lahden taideinstituutissa ja suorittanut kuvataiteen ylemmän AMK – tutkinnon Saimaan ammattikorkeakoulussa. Vuonna 2023 hänelle myönnettiin valtion ylimääräinen taiteilijaeläke. Illukan teoksia on kotimaisissa ja ulkomaisissa museoissa ja kokoelmissa.

In Silja Puranen’s (b. 1961) video installation the destructive relationship between humans and their environment merges with an ageless longing for beauty. The starting point is the problematic material of our time—plastic—whose inherent tendency for imitation, rooted in its cultural history, recurs and accumulates in the work on various levels. The visual inspiration behind the pieces is the aesthetics of plastic, kitsch, camp, and a DIY attitude. In her career, Puranen has worked with textiles, digital image, video and animation.

Puranen on valmistunut kuvataiteilijaksi Lahden taideinstituutista ja taiteen maisteriksi Aalto-yliopistosta. Hänen teoksiaan on useissa kotimaisissa ja ulkomaisissa museoissa ja kokoelmissa. Puranen sai vuonna 2009 Pohjoismaiden suurimman tekstiilitaiteen palkinnon, Nordic Award in Textiles. Vuonna 2023 Puraselle myönnettiin valtion ylimääräinen taiteilijaeläke.

In her works, Virpi Vesanen-Laukkanen portrays life with grandchildren and their families. The color paper cutouts are tenderly rendered portraits of loved ones. Her latest works explore closeness and how we need one another. The velvety soft sculptures gently and humorously address time, change, and aging. The artworks draw inspiration from surrealism and everyday life, where small movements are constantly taking place. Vesanen-Laukkanen is a textile and visual artist who interprets myths and imagery related to women's lives. She cuts paper, reuses materials to make reliefs, sews costume sculptures from caramel paper and soft toys from fabric.

Vesanen-Laukkanen on koulutukseltaan taiteen maisteri. Hänet valittiin vuonna 2008 Ornamon vuoden taiteilijaksi ja vuonna 2023 hänelle myönnettiin valtion ylimääräinen taiteilijaeläke. Hänen teoksiaan on kotimaisissa ja ulkomaisissa museoissa ja kokoelmissa.