Taru Happonen: Taxidermy Surfaces

Time is the one thing that can’t be stopped. Like a sharp blade, it silently cuts through hard and soft, constantly advancing. Nothing is capable of jolting it even the slightest bit, but it changes everything.

Excerpt from Liu Cixin’s novel The Dark Forest*

Visual artist Taru Happonen explores a complex, ever-changing world from both a cosmic and microscopic perspective in her exhibition Taxidermy Surfaces. Blending sci-fi and real-world elements, she combines the peeled skins of creatures with recurring motifs such as eye shapes, plant cells and circuitry.

The works featured in the exhibition employ a diverse array of materials such as pearlescent pigments, aluminium powder, oil paint, marble powder and mineral resin, mixing together materials traditionally associated either with painting or sculpture. Organic and synthetic elements are inextricably intertwined in both the material presence and content of Happonen’s art.

The soundscape of the exhibition was created in collaboration with composer Tapio Viitasaari.

Taru Happonen (b. 1989, Lahti) lives and works in Helsinki. She graduated with a master’s degree in fine arts from Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts in 2023. In recent years she has exhibited her work at venues including Forum Box in Helsinki, Mältinranta Art Centre in Tampere and Saatchi Gallery in London.

taruhapponen.com

*translated by Joel Martinsen

The exhibition will be opened on Friday 8 November at 5–7pm, welcome!

The artist’s work and this exhibition are supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

In 2024, the exhibitions at HAM gallery are supported by the Finnish Heritage Agency.