Inventory contains all the things found in Noomi Ljungdell‘s childhood home. Ljungdell has photographed and catalogued every piece of furniture, bolt or half-empty milk carton in the living quarters, as well as the people and all the spaces including skirting boards. The body of work is a still image of the possessions and utilities of a retired middle class couple.

The exhibition at Hippolyte Studio consists of a textual work and one photograph. The text acts as a table of contents that lists all the photographed objects in alphabetical order. In the photograph, the whole childhood home exists as a multiple exposure: every item, thing and person. In the image, the layers of the photographed objects obscure each other. The result resembles an x-ray or a delicate watercolour.

With this technique, Ljungdell eliminates the recognisable features of the objects, and creates a photograph that simultaneously shows and hides them. Ljungdell is interested in the thought that one image could contain everything. In addition to the items, the whole childhood with its memories and meanings, is crystallised in a single image.

Other works from the series Inventory have previously been exhibited at Fotogalleri Format in Malmö. Moreover, a few of Ljungdell’s multiple exposures are exhibited at the Art Fair Suomi 2015 event at the Cable Factory in Helsinki 18–20 Sept 2015.

Noomi Ljungdell (b.1979) is a photographic artist from Helsinki, who mostly works based on conceptual principles. In her works, Ljungdell uses photography, text and installation. Contentwise, her works often deal with a certain place, being in a place and the unshareability of experience. In photography, Ljungdell is interested in questions of concealing, showing and deconstruction, and she strives to question photography as a medium, especially regarding its connection to time and the photographed object. In Ljungdell’s works the viewer is given an active role both as a creator of the works and a producer of meaning.

Ljungdell graduated as Master of Arts from the programme in photography at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki in 2008. Her works have been exhibited i.a. at the following museums and institutions: Helsinki City Museum, Helsinki Art Museum, Det Nationale Fotomuseum (Copenhagen), The École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (Paris), Stenersen Museet (Oslo), Daegu Photo Biennale (South Korea).

Thank you: Arts Promotion Centre Finland

4 – 27 September 2015
Noomi Ljungdell
INVENTORY

HIPPOLYTE STUDIO
Yrjönkatu 8–10 courtyard, 00120 Helsinki, Finland
+358 9 612 33 44, www.hippolyte.fi
Tue–Fri 12–17, Sat–Sun 12–16