31 August–24 September 2023

“There is no natural route that leads to victory.”

“The Anatomy of Desire” is a 12-minute short film. The life of the main character goes off the rails when she realizes that she is being rewarded for her youth and beauty in ways that exceed all her other achievements. While trying to find a time machine for her life, the main character drifts deeper and deeper into patriarchal beauty rituals, building her identity and happiness on her appearance.

The film reveals the brutal and hidden aspects of beauty care that are usually not seen in glossy social media posts or are kept secret between beauty professionals and their customers. The film shows what it takes to pursue perfection – time, pain and blood.

Rosaliina Paavilainen (b. 1993) is a visual artist and filmmaker who mainly works with documentary and experimental films. In her works, she has dealt with difficult family relationships, addiction, infidelity and a fear of death. Paavilainen’s works are often based on exploring and critically examining the human mind, emotions and activities.

Paavilainen earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of the Arts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts in 2022, specializing in time and space arts. In recent years, her moving image works have been shown at both exhibitions and film festivals, including DocPoint, Helsinki (2021), Mänttä Art Festival, Mänttä (2021), reGeneration4, Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne (2020) and Nuoret 2019, Kunsthalle, Helsinki (2019). During the summer of 2023, Paavilainen participated in an international mentoring program at the Saari Residence, jointly produced by The Wapping Project and the Kone Foundation.

The work has been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland and the Finnish Cultural Foundation