Irina Laaja

The body represents such a specific, physical part of ourselves but is simultaneously the bearer of the most systems, symbols, feelings and opinions. It can be considered as our most fundamental element but at the same time, as one of the most emotionally and politically charged themes in culture and society.

With a significant focus on the process and with her own body, along with the experiences and emotions that emerge from it as material, Irina works with textiles, sculpture, installation and sketches as primary media. By connecting the personal and the political in a contemporary context, she touches on questions of perceptions of bodies, bodily experiences and the relationship between the "body" and the self.

These two self-portraits are attempts at an understanding and acceptance of your own body, attempting to study the possibility of objectivity to the subjective, and attempting to be someone who would create a monument of themselves.

Exhibited works, degree exhibition

I wanted to be monument but I guess I'm just a body: Photography, digital prints on organic cotton, polyester cotton wool, thread, 97 x 95 x 180 cm

Fourteen parts of me: Kombucha SCOBY, flax thread, steel, 173 x 74 x 43 cm

Interview

Irina Laaja, born 1989, Vaasa, Finland (Swedish).

Irina Laaja's website.