Jenni Toivonen’s exhibition Kanto at Hippolyte Korjaamo explores the transience and transformation of landscapes and their effects on the human mind and body. At the center of the exhibition is the artist’s deep attachment to the slowly vanishing nature surrounding her childhood home. The forest, which has long provided Toivonen with a sense of belonging and security, is becoming a reflection of the cycle of life and death, leading to a reevaluation of the identity once shaped by the surrounding nature – trees, lakes, and various species.

The Finnish word “kanto,” which means both a tree stump and carrying, refers to the reciprocal care between humans and other forms of life. Amid the national discussion in Finland on logging, deforestation and species loss, the impacts of changing landscapes are visible in many parts of the country, but also deep within ourselves – the landscape we call home is shrinking into an unrecognisable non-place. From an ecofeminist perspective, Toivonen believes that our bodies are part of these places and  extensions of the nature that has raised us, regardless of where we are.

According to the American feminist theorist and scholar Donna Haraway, grief is an essential part of cultivating response-ability – it opens up possibilities for various reactions and increases the willingness to acknowledge the existence of a world beyond oneself. Indigenous beliefs suggest that the souls of deceased loved ones transfer to the surrounding trees, making the loss of a familiar forest comparable to losing a cherished person. As part of the artist’s own grieving process, the exhibition explores grief as a pathway to understanding the intertwining of life and death.

Through rituals and a bodily working method, Toivonen aims to build reciprocity and strengthen the connection to the land. The exhibition consists of pigment and silver gelatine prints that emphasise the themes of the passage of time and transience. As an intervention, the weaving in the works plays a role in expressing care and inclusion, reflecting both cosmic and hereditary interspecies interactions. The works in the exhibition recognise nature and soil as the body’s home, linking them to feminine power and reflecting a desire to return to a state of original unity. Kanto acts both as a protest against the logging and destruction of familiar landscapes and as a reaffirmation of existence: the body becomes a testament to belonging.

Jenni Toivonen (b. 1993, Tampere) is a visual artist working in the expanded field of photographic art. Her practice addresses themes of interconnectedness of life, ecology, and impermanence, which she often explores through the materiality of the body and the earth. Through corporeal methods, Toivonen aims to build reciprocity and reinforce her connection to the land and other forms of life. She graduated with a Master of Arts from Aalto University’s master’s programme in Photography in 2022. Her works have been exhibited in Finland, including at Valokuvakeskus Nykyaja and Galleria Rajatila in Tampere, as well as internationally at events such as the Copenhagen Photo Festival in Denmark, the Circulation(s) exhibition in France, and the Encontros da Imagem festival in Portugal. Toivonen has also been selected as one of the recipients of the FUTURES Nordic Talent 2024 award.

The artist’s work has been supported by the Kone Foundation, the Niilo Helander Foundation, and the Paulo Foundation. Her darkroom work on the project has been supported by the Nordic Analog Network, Ljósmyndaskólinn, and SIM Residency (Reykjavik, Iceland).

Jenni Toivonen
Kanto
18 October – 14 December 2024
Hippolyte Korjaamo (Töölönkatu 51 A-B, 00250 Helsinki)

image: Jenni Toivonen, aura blend, 2024