Lush, thriving vegetation entwines itself around human figures in Helle’s sculptures. The plants cling to the space and the figures, supporting them and themselves being supported. Humankind and nature coexist in perfect synergy, nurturing each other. The sculptures hark back to prehistoric times before humans upset the balance of nature. Helle’s sculptures pose the question: Could a new balance be regained in the post-Anthropocene?
The luxuriant figures in the sculptures serve as reminders of the ongoing flow of life. Referencing art history, their voluptuous corporeality slides from masculine to feminine, while their free flow and abandonment of defined contours anchor them in the contemporary moment. Their entangled symbiosis foregrounds the diversity of human relationships. Is friendship ultimately so very different from a love relationship?
Emma Helle (b. 1979) graduated from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts and her work is found in private collections as well as the collections of HAM Helsinki Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the State Art Deposit Collection, the Sara Hildén Art Museum, Saastamoinen Foundation, Wihuri Foundation and Pro Artibus. She has held numerous solo exhibitions at venues including Turku Art Museum, and she has participated in group exhibitions at the Boston Museum of Fine Art, Stockholm’s National Museum, the Mänttä Festival, Kunsthalle Helsinki and EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art.
