Sirkku Ketola | A Body Called Paula

Sirkku Ketola 
A Body Called Paula
Gallery “5 malūnai” (Malūnų str. 5, Vilnius Academy of Arts)

Performing hours: October 9-12 from 11 am daily (duration approx. 2,5 hours)
Opening of the exhibition October 14, 5 pm
Exhibition time: 2024 October 14 – November 08
On 8 October at 12.30 pm. Sirkku Ketola will give an artist's talk "A Body Called Paula" Extending the Context (Titanikas, Prof. Feliksas Daukantas Auditorium, Maironio str. 3). Everybody is welcome!

Curator Marija Marcelionytė-Paliukė

Sirkku Ketola’s work consists of visual poems and situations. Time and repetition are her main questions – the Universe is an ornament repeating itself. 

A Body Called Paula, is an installation based on repetition and a meditative performance in which Ketola, taking the role of Paula, works on a large ornament on fragile paper. Paula is an allegory of a human as part of the universe and as a builder of technology. With the help of serigraphy, her hands and the space form a human printer, a sensual machine. Paula is enchanted with the ribbons, trapped in the activity and fettered by the body and matter. In Finnish the word paula is a synonym to a ribbon and a trap. The performance parts Light, Passion, Knowledge and Darkness symbolises the elements of full life. Tension is always present in the seemingly calm performance as the characteristics of the matter are in danger of being revealed when the fragile paper gets stuck. The ethereal soundscape of the performance has been created by Ketola. 

A Body Called Paula, begun in 2017, is a ten-year long process. Every year three to four ornament ribbons are created in different parts of the world. The performance is physically demanding, and the endurance of the artist’s hands determine the rhythm. The long timeline allows to override the control and lets the work itself find its essential form and dialogue. The task of the artist is only to maintain the movement. 

A Body Called Paula will take place at the “5 malūnai” Gallery 9-12 October, from 11am daily:
Wednesday, October 09 - “Light”
Thursday, October 10 - “Passion” 
Friday, October 11 - “Knowledge” 
Saturday, October 12 - “Darkness” 

You can freely browse the work just for a while, or you can stay with it longer (duration approx. 2,5 hours /performance). Warmly welcome to see the changes during the performances and the exhibition!

Sirkku Ketola (b.1973) is a contemporary printmaker who combines serigraphy with different materials. She is a civilized savage who slows down the digital image stream through handicraft methods, trying to understand the relationship between human rhythm and matter. Ketola earned her MFA degree from Uniarts Helsinki, and she has taken part in numerous Finnish and international projects and exhibitions. She lives and works in Turku (Finland) and in Brussels (Belgium). The artist’s work and A Body Called Paula project has been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland, the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Turku Art Foundation.

Sirkku Ketola's visit to Vilnius Academy of Arts Graphic Art Department is funded by the Erasmus+ programme.

Photos by Laura Karlin

More information:
Instagram: #abodycalledpaula #sirkkuketola / Web: www.sirkkuketola.com