Emilia Pennanen

Almost there, 2021

12.–24.8.2021
V1 Gallery, Väre, Espoo Finland

Saltwater, small breaths underwater, seahorses swallowing the horizon, cliffs hanging on small waves by the shore, sea foam rolling between the shells, the fish, the seaweed, the bubbles and breaths, forever bathing within waves, waves
Inkjet on silk, sublimation on polyester, cyanotype on silk and polyester, cotton thread, pine
191 x 123 x 113 cm

Small landscape exposed to sunlight and leaning on itself
Photographic emulsion on pine
90 x 72 x 42 cm

Dusty husk blush rose pink, baby blue and aqua setting the sun under the moon pillow
Inkjet on silk, sublimation on polyester, sublimation on silk, cotton thread, pine
223 x 145 x 3,5 cm

Mountain range, earth tone, tan bedded rocks beneath and on top of, pillows to breathe in, pillows for a dream
Sublimation on polyester, sublimation on silk, cotton thread, pine
172 x 110 x 53 cm

Walking in a desert, stumbling over a piece of pavement
Concrete, sublimation on polyester, sugar water
4,5 x 51 x 80 cm

The highway bridges were crowded with cars. Everyone had pulled up to take pictures of the vista, the view, the landscape — a landscape that was familiar, a landscape that led nowhere, a landscape that was miles of salt water, and on which the horizon lay in a thin line.

We drove slowly. I thought about the women by the desert lake. It was winter and the towns were quiet.

The exhibition Almost there explores landscape photography and the materiality of the photographic imprint. The exhibition is an ensemble of multi-materialities that extend towards the space between sculpture and photography.

At the core of the exhibition is the notion of decentralizing the perspective of landscape photography, a tradition that was developed on the West Coast of the USA, where these images were taken. The works steer the gaze to the edge of the landscape, to the areas and beings that often remain blurry and inconspicuous within traditional landscape photography. In the working process dreaming and craftsmanship have been instrumental in giving the works their final form.