She is one of the rising stars of the Finnish art world and her works have drawn attention all over Europe these past years. In 1997 she took part at the Venice Biennale and in the year 2000 she received the Finnish state prize for her work. In her exhibition at i8 gallery she will show sculptures made of optical fibres, a material which she has been using for a several years.
An exhibition of Helena Hietanen's work will be opened at i8 gallery in
Reykjavik on Thursday 17th of January 2002.
Helena Hietanen (b.1963) studied at the drawing department of the Helsinki
University (1989-1991) and at the University of Industrial Arts, Helsinki
(1983-1992). She is one of the rising stars of the Finnish art world and her
works have drawn attention all over Europe these past years. In 1997 she
took part at the Venice Biennale and in the year 2000 she received the
Finnish state prize for her work.
In her exhibition at i8 gallery she will show sculptures made of optical
fibres, a material which she has been using for a several years.
Information on Helena Hietanen and her work are among others to be found on
following websites:
http://www.arsfennica.fi/2001/hie-en.html
http://www.finland.org/events/aurora
http://www.anhava.com/exhibitions/hietanen
http://www.mairie-paris.fr/MUSEES/Site_federateur/Expositions/Historique/ch
a mps_sculpture/Champs3.htm
http://www.art.umea.se/ume_se/e_hietanen.html
http://virtual.finland.fi/finfo/english/pdf/art.pdf
HELENA HIETANEN’s "TECHNOLACE" most often is a site specific sculpture
installation. The final form of the work depends on the form and the height
of the final space.
The work consists of stainless steel structure, projectors with halogen
lights, partially painted rotating glass discs and optical fibres. The
hundreds of optical fibres are woven into lace like patterns. Each
individual pattern has it’s own source of light. The light is transferred to
the optical fibres through the rotating, partially painted glass discs,
which creates a visual movement of light in the lace, continuously changing
in various speeds.
"Technolace" combines the feminine sensibility of traditional handicrafts
with the developed technology of today.
The beauty of the work functions on several different levels simultaneously.
It’s subtle changes of light create a meditative atmosphere absorbing the
spectator into the art work. At the same time it leads the viewer into a
self reflective process of reevaluating the traditional assumptions of
beauty and craftsmanship. Because of it’s technics the work is entirely
contemporary and international yet it carries a certain traditional Northern
sensibility referring to different natural phenomena typical to Northern
environments: the density of light on winter days, the depth of the long
nights silhouetted by stars, filtered moonlight.
Timothy Persons, September 2000
Opening hours : 1pm-5pm Tuesday to Saturday
i8 Klapparstig 33 101 Reykjavik
Tel: 00 354 551 3666 / 00 354 690 4960 Fax: 00 354 551 3666