If I focus my attention, can I sense my liver?
and what about all the pesticides, plastic particles, contaminated solutions, and inherited violences passing through it?
Mari Nurmenniemi’s first solo exhibition in Helsinki presents a video work and a textile installation that unfolds across the space, drawing the viewer into its embrace. Material histories of toxicity converge in the gallery and blend into one another: light, bodies, algae, repurposed fabrics, and stones and rebar gathered from contaminated soil. The work offers moments of ecosomatic attunement and encourages the visitors to rest in the sunlit / shaded space.
I remember how my father went to the fields, a tank of herbicide strapped to his back, a syringe in his hand, and a mask on his face.
I remember how my father tore the soil open every autumn, leaving it bare and scarred, like my skin bearing his overflowing anger.
WORKS:
Sunbathing, 2026.
Single-channel video, 4:20, loop.
Sound design: Elmeri Ström.
An underwater video of sea lettuce (Ulva lactuca) filmed in the Euboean Gulf, near Chalkida in Greece. The algae grew plentifully in the shoreline, feasting on fertilizers that overflowed from the nearby fish hatchery and surrounding cabbage fields.
Father’s embrace, 2026.
Site-specific installation:
Re-purposed fabrics gathered from second hand stores and deadstocks
Polyester yarn.
Rebar pieces and rocks collected from soil contaminated with arsenic, copper, zinc, and lead at Pyhtäänkorventie 19, Vantaa, a location that formerly housed a foundry and a printing house.
The exhibition was made with the support of family, friends and colleagues.
Special thanks to Lucy Davis, Laura Rajalin, Elmeri Ström, Petteri Kattainen, Sirpa Ruotsalainen, Alexia Coville, Heidi Piiroinen, Iria Arenas, Noora Sandgren, Ville Auvinen / Aalto University’s Construction Workshop, and Emiliano Espinosa / Aalto Takeout.
Thank you Mad House Helsinki for loaning the bean bag chairs.