All sorts seasonal by Tarja Tuupanen and Jenni Sokura

Artist list

Jenni Sokura, Tarja Tuupanen

This exhibition opens up perspectives on the Nordic approach to seasonal products. In Finland, imported goods are often the highlight of everyday life if you think about fruit, for example. Domestic, Finnish variation in fruit can be seen somewhat narrow and the growing season is short, due to the geographical location. The theme rose from the experiences of enjoying the exotic goods and paying attention to details related to these  much awaited precious visitors.

For Tarja, grapes are luxurious and ornamental fruits. The taste of this round fruit is sweet and luscious. The visual abundance of the grape bunch itself is charming. The feel of grapes is festive, and they used to be a treat for special occasions. Definitely, you could only dream of growing it up North; the grapevine was seen only in trips to southern areas. Still, seeing a grapevine growing on the sunny side of a house gives the feeling of something exotic. It is strange in an exciting and enchanting way.

In art imagery, we are familiar with pictures and statues of  Bacchus or other characters holding grapes. We know that there is a possibility to be blissfully intoxicated by this fruit. This strengthens the impression of luxury and ornamentation. The physical structure of the grape bunch gives possibilities to the artist. The grape is recognizable both as a bunch and as a single grape. Tarja uses materials like marble and alabaster, which bear a similar luxurious, maybe a bit old fashioned, feeling as the grape itself. How would you and could you wear a grape, or should it be kept on a table as a decorative object? Fruit is all about the moment when it is perfect, ready to be eaten. The used material, stone, tries to hold the moment of the ripe fruit forever.

Jenni thinks that oranges are a good snack for weekdays: you must have carried fruit yourself at work - in the morning you are hopeful that the fruit will be eaten during the day: only to find out that you have only been carrying it back and forth for a week - a reliable travelling companions are presented in ceramic form for longer lasting snack experience. Oranges bring color and joy in the midst of the Finnish winter. They also provide essential vitamins during the winter season, when everything seems a bit icy, cold and dreary while your vitality seems to be slipping away. Oranges usually peak in January, when cellar stocks start to run low and you start to get tired of potatoes and turnips: oranges remind of sunlight.

The little sticker on the fruit shares some details from the fruit's background, like the country of origin, the variety or the brand itself with different types of images. These little labels can trigger the collecting mode with bright colors and patterns, and they can also be seen as decorations for the fruit itself.

In these enamelled pieces, the artist reverses the illustration: labels no longer indicate the origin of the fruit, but the recipient - what is it like in Finland with oranges from the south? What kind of connections and connotations are built around fruit in a new environment? While Jenni shares different connotations in enamelled versions, these labels have the potential to become collectible in the same way as the original stick-on labels on fruit.


Event opening hour: 
Thursday 13.3. 2025  17-23pm (vernissage).
Fri 14.3. 11-19 h.
Sat 15.3. 11-19 h.
Sun 16.3. 11-17 h.