PHOTOGRAPHIC GALLERY HIPPOLYTE
Kalevankatu 18 B, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
+ 358 9 612 33 44, www.hippolyte.fi
Opening hours: Tue-Fri 12-17, Sat-Sun 12-16

Aada Sigurlina Niilola
False Images
12 Oct – 4 Nov 2007

I am fascinated by the moment, always new and different.
New and never the same.
The shared moment, where was it?
What is it like for you, just as important, yet different.
But no less.
No worse.
Different yet in its essence the same.

The allusive capacity of photographs is fascinating, but also a type of prison, because photographs are also mute. I am not so much interested in the evidentiary power of photography as in its ability to illustrate reality much more profoundly and diversely than a direct document. I am interested in the ability of photographs to evoke emotions, moods, memories, places and imaginary and real landscapes. Consequently the elements in my photos are not evidence, but actors and objects.

A photograph is for me an instrument, a "potential world" waiting to be shared. What fascinates me is not perfection, but mistakes that mess up my original intention. For me, the out-of-focus elements and bruises in a photo are just so many additional levels. The trace on the surface of the photograph reveals a new surface, a new time and dimension. That which has been cropped from the picture is just as interesting for me as what is left in the frame.

I work with photography and moving images. I want to combine different methods of image-making that serve the final result as well as possible. I am interested in the ability of images to narrate things and present a particular reality. What captivates me in images is their powerful presence and capacity to create a visual home for stories, and the possibility to challenge the viewer through the image.

My artistic practice is an exploration of the reality I find myself in. I am interested in personality and the fundamental dimensions of humanity: motions, observations, insights, fears, action, limits. Art is for me a continuous conversation with myself and with my surroundings: I see art as an opportunity to present assertions, questions and interpretations, and to take a stand. As an artist I am interested in the human condition and the kind of reality that is a mix between fiction and reality.

Aada Niilola

Aada Niilola:If I give this to you?, 2006