Journey to the Centre of Attention uses humour to explore the gaze, ways of seeing and the fallacy of first impressions. The exhibition is based on the artist’s experiences of being the object of malicious gazes. Experiences such as a half-acquaintance’s false and publicised conclusion about a romantic relationship between the artist and a stranger, and a ‘friend’s’ hate letter to an artist, have served as the impetus for philosophical reflections on the theme of the exhibition: Do we really see what we see? Are the conclusions we draw correct? Is what initially seems obvious something more complex after all? The humorous perspective of the exhibition aims to break down first impressions and challenge the habit of looking at things quickly and superficially that is so typical of today’s world.
Through black humour, Kaskinen has turned a traumatic experience into a game that helps the artist to see the inner wound in a completely new light. In her artistic work, she has created the idea of translation, which is present on several levels: as the inner is exposed to public scrutiny, the painful is translated into tenderness, the lifeless into something alive, and the absurd into something intelligent. The artist tackles a weighty subject with a gentle and intelligent humour, revealing that reality can be very different from what it seems at first glance.
The artist uses words and old photographs from flea markets and her own archives, as well as objects that she combines to tell her own personal story. The exhibition includes works such as I Know What You Did Last Summer (2023), which combines a small light box with a peephole, and iRock (2025), which combines gold text with a small black stone to create a study of the inner gaze. The nature of the found photographs is changed by the name of the artwork or the text attached to it. Kaskinen’s work focuses on the mental image evoked by photographs and objects, whose original interpretation or purpose the artist distorts by adding her own experience. The journey to the centre of attention moves from one room to the next, beginning with the gesture of looking at the object from a distance, moving from the external gaze to the internal gaze of the individual. How the journey ends is open to different interpretations. The works in the exhibition are fictional, yet emotionally true.
The exhibition encourages visitors to make their own interpretations of the works and everything they see around them. The artist wants to stimulate and awaken discussion about the different ways in which we humans see our environment and each other. Everyone’s experience is subjective, and so is the way we see. There is a beating heart in front of the mirror as well as inside the human-shaped shell, something real whose unique story deserves a gentle look.
Heli Kaskinen
Journey to the center of attention
Photo North, gallery
5.4.-1.6.2025
