My exhibition consists of spatial, temporal and visual elements, and through projections, objects and words it builds up to an emotion.

The Green Elephant is a symbol for a private reality only one person can see, and which thus creates a part of their real world, but is invisible to others. This negative being is a misconception of self and the surrounding world a person creates for themselves. It can affect relationships with others and at worst lead to fanaticism or self-destructiveness.

The green elephant as a symbol comes from my brother. He once said that my imaginings are like a small, green elephant. It is only real to myself and its existence can easily be put into question if you are aware of the artificialness of its presence.

– Alisa Javits

Alisa Javits, born in St Petersburg 1984, graduated with an MA in visual culture from Stockholm University in 2009. She also graduated as an MA in Photographic Arts from the Aalto University in Helsinki, in 2013. She is currently working on her doctoral thesis in the department of Film, Television and Scenography at Aalto University.

The exhibition has been generously supported by: Greta and William Lehtinen Foundation, AVEK (The Promotional Centre for Audiovisual Culture) and The Finnish Concordia Fund

27 November – 20 December 2015
ALISA JAVITS
The Green Elephant

Photographic Gallery Hippolyte
Yrjönkatu 8–10 courtyard, 00120 Helsinki, Finland
+358 9 612 33 44, www.hippolyte.fi
Tue–Fri 12–17, Sat–Sun 12–16
Closed 6 Dec 2015

(image: Alisa Javits, detail from piece The Green Elephant, 2015)