25.4.–19.5.2024

In the cartesian coordinate system, the position of any point is specified by axes: horizontal, vertical and depth. The origin is the point where the three mutually perpendicular coordinate axes intersect and where the coordinates are all zero. It is a point of observation according to which information is organized in space.

In the exhibition Origo, Inka Bell has created paper-based works by combining analogue printing technology with a newer approach to image-creation method. An even color surface is first layered on the paper using serigraphy, and the image is then formed when the color is removed, layer by layer, by laser engraving. The work process mirrors the exhibition’s theme of dimensions. The horizontally and vertically advancing arm of the laser machine shoots a burning beam downwards. By varying the settings, surfaces are created where the printing ink and paper begin to merge with each other, forming material and spatial intermediate spaces. The mixing of technology with materiality appears in places as glitches on the image surface.

Dialogue and playing with the materials and technology used in image creation have long been essential in Bell’s work process. She creates dimensions where precisely defined information blurs out of control and slides towards new frequencies.

Riikka Thitz, curator

Inka Bell (b. 1981) graduated with a master’s degree from the Academy of Fine Arts from the University of the Arts Helsinki in 2021. She has exhibited her work in several exhibitions, both in Finland and internationally. Her most recent solo shows were at Forum Box, Helsinki (2023), Bricks Gallery, Copenhagen (2022), Porvoo Art Hall, Porvoo (2022), and HAM Gallery, Helsinki (2020). She has work in several collections, including those of EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, European Parliament, Helsinki Art Museum HAM, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, and the Tamarind Archive at the University of New Mexico Art Museum.