6.6. — 29.6.2025

In my exhibition Foreign Species, non-human species look for companionship through dating apps, and bodily orifices hide feelings, desires, and shame. The artistic process began from a personal experience: my queer body being seen as foreign – even harmful – much like an invasive species. According to the EU regulation, a species may be considered harmful if it threatens native biodiversity. This resonated deeply with my sense of otherness: the feeling that I am a disturbance, that my desires and hopes are at odds with the norm – even unnatural.

Desire or identity is often labelled unnatural when it doesn’t fit familiar norms. In my exhibition, queer desire and otherness are not in opposition to nature—they are part of it. I began to explore the relationship between queerness and nature. Who or what is foreign? Who has the right to spread? Are we ready to encounter the other within ourselves – and what if it has desires? Could we learn from another – perhaps from our friends in the sea?

The exhibition shifted further when my nearly 20-year-long relationship ended. I had to learn how to be single in a completely different time and rebuild my identity. My works draw from personal experiences and their unruly relationship with gay culture and history, nature, and dreaming.

Foreign Species is the third and final artistic part of my doctoral research in fine arts at the Academy of Fine Arts, Uniarts Helsinki. The first part, Pink Gym, was shown at MUU Helsinki in 2023. The second part, Leak and Preach, was a drag performance presented at Club Kiihko’s Evening of New Hope at Cultural Centre Caisa in 2024.

In my research, I examine the significance of listening in the practice of a queer visual artist. I’m particularly interested in “queer-listening” – how it relates to artistic creation and critical thinking. I ask how artworks can resonate with the maker’s personal experiences and open space for listening, affect, and queer feelings.

My artistic work and research are supported by Kone Foundation.

Timo Tähkänen is a visual artist and a drag performer, as well as a second-year doctoral student (2023 onward) at the University of the Arts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts. In their artistic research, they examine how listening in a queer body influences their artistic practice. They graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in 2014 and as a visual artist from the South Karelia University of Applied Sciences in 2007. The exhibition at Forum Box is the third artistic component of Tähkänen’s doctoral dissertation.