June 17th–September 3rd, 2023
Eyes as Big as Plates was initiated in 2011 by artists Riitta Ikonen (FI) and Karoline Hjorth (NO). The project began as an exploration of how humans can personify nature and how folklore can serve as an explanation for natural phenomena. Over the years, this investigation has continued by exploring modern human’s belonging in nature and our ongoing attempt to understand our relationship to our surroundings.
Since 2011, the Norwegian-Finnish artist duo has portrayed people in Norway, Finland, France, the USA, the UK, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Sweden, South Korea, the Czech Republic, Japan, Senegal, Germany, Austria, the Outer Hebrides, Tasmania, and Greenland. The project continues to cross borders, with the aim of also portraying people who in different ways work with or are affected by climate change. Through these portraits, the project offers new perspectives on who we are and where we belong.
In May, the duo visited Rejmyre to create new works together with local residents, which will become part of their ongoing portrait series. The extensive exhibition at Engelska Magasinet will, for the first time, present these new portraits from Rejmyre to the public, alongside sculptures, earlier portraits from the series, and process material.
Part sculpture, part installation, part photography – but above all functioning as a kind of adventure club – Ikonen and Hjorth collaborate throughout the entire process, each bringing their complementary skills. The photographs have been produced in collaboration with retired farmers, fishermen, zoologists, plumbers, opera singers, housewives, artists, academics, and ninety-year-old parachutists, among others. Each image in the series presents a solitary figure in a landscape, dressed in materials gathered from their surroundings, with no indication of time or place. Here, nature acts as both content and context: the characters literally inhabit the landscape with sculptures created in collaboration with the artists.
The collaborative project Eyes as Big as Plates by Riitta Ikonen and Karoline Hjorth has previously been presented at venues including The Barbican Centre (London), Salamanca Arts Centre (Tasmania), Pioneer Works (NYC), Museum of Contemporary Arts Kiasma (Helsinki), NADA Miami, Bogotá International Photo Biennale (Colombia), Gallery FACTORY (Seoul, Korea), The Nordic House (Faroe Islands), Greenland National Museum, and as part of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics (2018). The duo also gave a TEDMED talk in spring 2020. Finnish artist Riitta Ikonen received her MA from the Royal College of Art in 2008. Norwegian photographer, artist, and author Karoline Hjorth received her MA from the University of Westminster (London) in 2009.
Rejmyre Art Lab’s exhibition program is carried out with support from the Swedish Arts Council, Region Östergötland, and Finspång Municipality.