Pauliina Waris / Jyri Ala-Ruona

Pauliina Waris: We are not birds (three variations of the leaving ones), Hall 1 and Jyri Ala-Ruona: Spectral Fields, Hall 2

Pauliina Waris’s exhibition We are not birds (three variations of the leaving ones) at HAA Gallery brings together large-scale and smaller oil paintings in which translucent, layered brushstrokes create a subtle sense of depth. The detailed surfaces invite the viewer into movement: at times closer, almost entering the image, at times stepping back to grasp the work as a whole. 

Waris approaches landscape as a space of mind and memory. The works do not depict unambiguous places; rather, they unfold as reflections on an undefined absence — on something that has once been present but is no longer. In addition to absence, Waris has been interested in the intertwined nature of departure and arrival. Leaving does not signify mere disappearance, but also transition and transformation. 

Jyri Ala-Ruona’s paintings in the exhibition refer to energy flows and changes in the forms of energy. The works are based on Ala-Ruona’s interest in examining energy consumption and the relationship between painting and photography as manifestations of neuroticism, which stems from his own personal history. The representational nature of the works, which requires lengthy and layered painting, is essentially linked to the themes he deals with in them.

HAA Galleria

4.-26.4.2026

Free entry