Susanna Majuri | imagery under water

The exhibition “Saved with water,” 2007 by Finnish artist

Susanna Majuri. Galerie Adler will present the work in Majuri’s first solo exhibition inNew York. The artist’s photographs are rooted in narritive and usually depict an interaction between subject and landscape. When speaking of her work the artist has stated, “I follow the logic of colours when I combine places, people and clothes. To me, the most important quality of photography is its capability to convey emotions. I want to start secret love affairs with places.” Each scenario is loaded with psychological possibilities and symbolism that successfully commingles fiction with fact. Majuri currently lives and works in Helsinki, Finland, and has exhibited in Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Germany and France. She is a graduate of the Turku Arts Academy (2004), and received her M.A. in photography from the University of Art and Design in Helsinki. In 2005, the artist won the photography prize Gras Savoye Award in Arles, France.

see more exhibition by her.

Susanna Majuri

PHOTOGRAPHY
1978, SUOMI

YOU NORDIC

Statement

I touch the water. The waves of the Arctic Ocean wash over my route to the lighthouse. I search for the ship ploughing the sea in front of the mountains. It is so cold. Come! I have photographed Nordic people in the Nordic countries. Water demarcated my routes in Denmark and Norway. I hid the protagonist in a sea costume in the turquoise of Icelandic water. A frozen water slide slept in a closed zoo in Sweden. Unknown boys, girls and women participated in my visions. I want to show people that our immediate environment is fantastic. I search for individual sights. Images, like books, can tell stories. A reader of images is given the opportunity to deal with his or her loss and encounters in life. The boy in the channel of farewells is drowning only for a moment. The Sinä pohjoinen project has been supported by NIFCA, the Uusimaa provincial fund of the Finnish Cultural Foundation, FRAME and the Central Arts Council.

Biography

Susanna Majuri began her Master’s studies in photography at the University of Art and Design Helsinki in 2004. Prior to that, she had graduated from the Turku Arts Academy with a degree in photography. Her photographs and videos have been displayed in numerous exhibitions in Europe, for instance in Paris, Reykjavik and Oslo. She has works in the collections of the Malmö Art Museum, Helsinki City Art Museum and Kunst Raum Sylt-Quelle in Germany. Her works are also presented in the book entitled Talvimaa (Musta taide 2006), which accompanied the triennale exhibition of the Union of Artist Photographers, and The Helsinki School Vol. 2 (Hatje Cantz 2007), which introduces photographers from the University of Art and Design Helsinki.

Contact information

+358 44 024 1178
susanna.majuri(at)gmail.com

 Artist Statement

 I suggest: we can be multiple. Touch your enviroment and it will show itself as fantastic. People are unpredictable. They are male and female at the same time. Eyes whisper sparks.

The water is the most remarkable. It carries bodies. Water is colour. The shimmer and the deep green. My challenge is to see the reality in a non-traditional light. When I am shooting pictures, I have a premonition that something strange is about to happen.

I follow the logic of colours, when I combine places, people and objects. To me the most important quality of photography is it´s capability to convey emotions.

I suggest: imagine the details a bit further. Who is drawing trees in to the pond. When you touch the surface of the house it turns out to be your companion.

I throw myself into a fictive reality in the shootings. My heart beats wildly when I can feel the presence of surprises. When you´re in love, but bid farewell to the channel. You forgot the ship and it sinks. When the fall is unreachable behind the grey sorrow.

I want to narrate feelings like in novels. The reader of images gets a chance to handle her lost and encounters. There is a place for danger. Did you die when you saw the shadow of the bird?

The language is a map and draws around us, unknown and familiar.

I believe in a single image. It breaths strong.