3.–18.12.2022
Opening hours: Thu–Fri 2–6 pm, Sat–Sun 12–4 pm 
Welcome to the opening on Friday 2.12. between 6–8 pm

The exhibition wip is a set-up for casting metallic dreams. The installation includes crucial tools of casting such as the crucible, pliers, and safety gear, and a trace of heat hovering above the material process. This set-up is built upon shared need, security and anticipation, and being in it, we share the momentum where the body is connected to the long history of tradition while the mind is already imagining something to come.

The installation refers to the process of metal casting, a traditional technique that has brought together the participating artists Maija Fox, Vesa Rahikainen, and Man Yau. They have been working together with the method since 2020, at their beloved workshop called Levytie, a former part of Uniart Helsinki premises. The installation at Outo Olo is a collaborative work, the implementation of which follows the same rules as in metal castings: shared tasks with mutual confidence, work safety, and red-hot metal falling into place.

Maija Fox (b. 1998) is a visual artist based in Helsinki. Her sculptural devices are sensitive reflections of the immediate surroundings, like the fluttering and falling of maple seeds – or by the functionality of engineered objects in the modern world – such as spinning chimney cowls. The process of making, materials, and scale of Fox’s works are playful responses carried by time, place, and curiosity in noticing narratives between natural and human-made mechanisms. Fox uses methods that correlate with the use of materials in construction such as casted aluminum, stone, and other forms of metal fabrication. Fox is currently working towards a group show at Frappant Hamburg, Amos Rex’s exhibition Generation 23, and a solo exhibition at Seripaja.

Vesa Rahikainen (b. 1979) works in Helsinki. His artistic work explores the fundamental essence of materials and techniques. His sculptural work is an expressive process where the body, as both the creator and experiencer of art, is contemplated. An interest in physicality and immaterial expression has come through Taiji, Qi Gong, and Taoist exercises, which he also teaches. He works at the Academy of Fine Arts as the technician of the sculpture studios and as a metalworking class teacher. Currently, Rahikainen is on leave from his work, focusing on a project about his personal connection to nature supported by the Kone Foundation.

Man Yau (b. 1991) is a Helsinki based sculptor. Her artistic practice is a material-led exploration on the topic of exoticization, from both a personal and historical perspective. Yau works with sculptures and installations, where she borrows shapes from recognizable objects and situations, such as Chinoiserie-style aesthetics, porcelain vases, and silk ribbons to explore the topic in commonly accepted narratives in a Western context. Currently Yau is working on her next solo exhibition at the Helsinki Art Museum’s HAM gallery. Yau’s work is supported by Kone Foundation and Raimo Utriainen Foundation. 

The artists would like to thank Jaakko Suomalainen for the wip-logo design, Sakari Tervo, Satu Hiltunen, and Tuomo Tuovinen for dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s with the exhibition text, and Jaakko Pietiläinen for the technical support.