Lin Martikainen ^{Emerging artist}

Artist's country of origin: Finland

Lin Martikainen with the artist name Lin Da is a white non-binary artist, choreographer and performer based in Helsinki.

They graduated from Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD) in 2013 with a degree in dance. After which Lin did choreography MA studies in Uniarts Helsinki where they graduated in 2016. Since that they have mostly worked as a choreographer in Helsinki but also enjoyed working in residencies abroad, for example in Cologne, Hong Kong and Domicella. At the moment Lin is finalizing their studies in the Master of Time and Space programme at the Uniarts Helsinki Academy of Fine Arts. In Lin’s work, it is important for them to consider the ethics of creating, the relationships of power and responsibility, and the conditions in which art is made. As an artist who has their background in corporeal and somatic work Lin is constantly rebuilding their relationship with and to their body. They are also working with the gaze that others have on the(ir) body as well as the spectators own bodies. Lin has an ongoing research process since 2018 where they work by themselves and with other people exploring the cavities of the human body. The research began by exploring the mouth with another choreographer-dancer Elias Girod and composer Lauri Supponen. With them Lin created two performances around the mouth, Circulating Mouthpiece (2018) and Mouthpiece (2020). After that Lin has continued the research around the mouth in workshop contexts, for example, in a philosophical course context led by researcher Ilmari Kortelainen in the Uniarts Helsinki Open University called Philosophy of body awareness. Lin’s most recent work is a multifaceted process consisting of a choreographic installation and a dance performance Aukeama – Opening space which is a collaborative project exploring the navel. This body of work looks at sculpture as a touch-based practice and the navel as a special but unarticulated experiential place in the body. The installation with plaster castings, cast beeswax, text and sound was on display in the Kuvan Kevät 2023 exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts from 5th of May to 4th of June 2023. Parts of the choreographic installation were sold to Saastamoinen Foundation to be part of their collection in Espoo Museum of Modern Art.