Submission
February 05, 2024

Acorn Hunt

Riika Anttonen @Forum Box Gallery, Helsinki
January 05 — 28, 2024

Installation view of solo exhibition ACORN HUNT, Riikka Anttonen, Forum box gallery, January 2024, Photo: Santeri Kuisma

a strip is left between the lake and the accommodation facilities
the crunch of the undershrub is heard underfoot
constantly something disintegrates
but the twinflowers should not be scrunched
constantly almost seeing a loon

thank you for enabling me to enjoy the uttermost peace of this place
it is well and truly peaceful here
regrettably the cuckoo of the cuckoo clock has started to transform
previously it used to be meticulously executed
slowly it has started to lose its details
it seems like its overall form is transforming too, perhaps towards something like a bird’s egg
it makes no sound as it shows itself on the hour
it somehow dwindles
it becomes an abstraction
I must stay up tomorrow night

people, who call a white dog Snow
people, who get a white cat and say The most fitting name would be Snow
people, who lift up a white rabbit and say A fitting name would be Snow
people, who go to the shop and buy eight metres of white fabric
other people, who think they know what will become of the fabric
people, who say This green bird I will call Snow
the green bird, who is soundless today
a white cockatoo, which vandalises an ugly railing and imitates a laugh
people, who have white leftover furniture paint
people, who won’t bother to get rid of it but will rather paint a bit more
people, who get a white chicken and say You would think that a white chicken called Snow would lay
white eggs, but instead it lays pink ones, come and see for yourselves
people, whose red-eyed guinea pig will be called Snow the Ruby-Eyed
people, who say This brown horse I will call Snow, because it is a silent one
people, who seize the chance when it’s zero degrees and push around a creaking ball, which
eventually is peppered with gravel
snow, which someone has shaped into caves during the night
people, who enter those caves
a person, who exits the cave on the edge of the field and shouts to the crowd SNOOOW
a person, who pretends to be talking on their phone if Snow turns around
people, who point at two white rabbits and say These are called Frost and Thaw
quite funny!
people, who listen to white noise in the evenings to calm down after everything

a person, who says at the party I have always wanted to be a falcon
another person, who answers So have I!

— Eeva Turunen
(english translation by Matias Loikala)

Detail of Gardener, wood, bolts, painted wood, 563x30x51cm, Riikka Anttonen, 2023, Photo: Santeri Kuisma
Pönttöpää (untranslatable), painted wood, 27x69x31cm, Riikka Anttonen, 2023 and Rakastaa, ei rakasta (engl: To Love Or Not To Love) painted wood, bolts, 349x466x154cm, Riikka Anttonen, 2023, Photo: Santeri Kuisma
Pönttöpää (untranslatable), painted wood, 27x69x31cm, Riikka Anttonen, 2023, Photo: Santeri Kuisma
Detail of Rakastaa, ei rakasta (engl: To Love Or Not To Love) painted wood, bolts, 349x466x154cm, Riikka Anttonen, 2023, Photo: Santeri Kuisma
Installation view of solo exhibition ACORN HUNT, Riikka Anttonen, Forum box gallery, January 2024, Photo: Santeri Kuisma
In Their New Skins, steatite, 35x16x4cm, Riikka Anttonen, 2023, Photo: Santeri Kuisma
Installation view of solo exhibition ACORN HUNT, Riikka Anttonen, Forum box gallery, January 2024, Photo: Santeri Kuisma
Installation view of solo exhibition ACORN HUNT, Riikka Anttonen, Forum box gallery, January 2024, Photo: Santeri Kuisma
Installation view of solo exhibition ACORN HUNT, Riikka Anttonen, Forum box gallery, January 2024, Photo: Santeri Kuisma
Installation view of solo exhibition ACORN HUNT, Riikka Anttonen, Forum box gallery, January 2024, Photo: Santeri Kuisma
Detail of Gardener, wood, bolts, painted wood, 563x30x51cm, Riikka Anttonen, 2023, Photo: Santeri Kuisma
Detail of Rakastaa, ei rakasta (engl: To Love Or Not To Love) painted wood, bolts, 349x466x154cm, Riikka Anttonen, 2023, Photo: Santeri Kuisma
Detail of My Little Locker, marble, bolts, wood, painted wood, 126x128x120, Riikka Anttonen, 2023
Detail of My Little Locker, marble, bolts, wood, painted wood, 126x128x120, Riikka Anttonen, 2023
Detail of Gardener, wood, bolts, painted wood, 563x30x51cm, Riikka Anttonen, 2023, Photo: Santeri Kuisma
Installation view of solo exhibition ACORN HUNT, Riikka Anttonen, Forum box gallery, January 2024, Photo: Santeri Kuisma
Installation view of solo exhibition ACORN HUNT, Riikka Anttonen, Forum box gallery, January 2024, Photo: Santeri Kuisma
Installation view of solo exhibition ACORN HUNT, Riikka Anttonen, Forum box gallery, January 2024, Photo: Santeri Kuisma
My Little Locker, marble, bolts, wood, painted wood, 126x128x120, Riikka Anttonen, 2023
Stepping stone, steatite, size varies, Riikka Anttonen, 2023, Photo: Santeri Kuisma
Detail of My Little Locker, marble, bolts, wood, painted wood, 126x128x120, Riikka Anttonen, 2023

Acorn Hunt
Riika Anttonen

Forum Box Gallery, Helsinki
January 05 — 28, 2024

Text: Eeva Turunen (english translation by Matias Loikala)

Photography: Santeri Kuisma / All images copyright and courtesy of the artist and the gallery.

The exhibition has been supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, VISEK and the Paulo Foundation.

Riikka Anttonen (b. 1982) is a visual artist living and working in Helsinki. Their artistic practice falls in the expanded field of painting and sculpture. At the core of their practise is their spacesensitive thinking, and their growing interest towards new materialist ways of working. Anttonen works through the lens of queer experience, with a recurring theme of metamorphosis. Their work delves into the multitudinous ways in which objects can exist, challenging conventional notions of identity and representation. In their quest to unravel these complexities, Anttonen envisions a series of works that seamlessly blend sculpture and painting within a spatial context, pushing the boundaries of both disciplines.
Anttonen works with various materials such as wood and stone, combining elements of sculpture with the expanded field of painting.

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