Ending an Island

The exhibition Ending an Island by Finnish artist Elina Priha consists of tapestries and small wooden sculptures. The theme is islands as places with physically clear boundaries. The exhibition will open on Thursday, 25 September at 5 p.m. in the Tampere House Gallery (Jaani 4, Tartu). It will remain open until 19 October.

At the Border of Islands is a continuation of Elina Priha’s earlier work.
“I am interested in islands as places with physically clear boundaries. On the other hand, it is not that simple; in Tove Jansson’s book Moominpappa at Sea (1965), Moominpappa writes in his diary: ‘There are no bridges to an island and no fences along the shore; one cannot leave it, nor be trapped there.’

Historically, many stories are connected to islands, both true and fictional: in some, the island is described as a utopian paradise, in others as a dystopia, and in some it becomes a prison. The common feature seems to be that an island always feels somewhat set apart from the rest of the world — almost as if no other laws or rules apply there except those created by oneself.”

The formal language of Priha’s tapestries draws from traditional Finnish weaving symbolism, Karelian embroidery patterns, and Finno-Ugric mythology, blending with organic elements. Creation is a collaboration with the material: I mainly use recycled textiles and yarns, which makes the outcome always to some extent unpredictable. I see working with textiles as a kind of soft activism and feminism, centered on slowness and care.

Elina Priha graduated from the Master’s programme in Visual Cultures, Curating and Contemporary Art at Aalto University in 2022. My work is process-based and site-specific; at its core lies an intimate relationship and interplay between place, material, and maker. I work with a variety of artistic techniques: mainly textile art, but also moving image, found objects, and creative writing. Walking is also a tool I use in my artistic practice.