Shelter

"In Päiväläinen’s Shelter series she continues with her fascination with fabrics and uses them once again as her raw material for her staged photographs. In this body of work, she uses her chosen fabrics, whether they be cut up and sewn together or merely hung by their natural weight, to domesticate isolated pristine places with her tempo- rary organic sculptures. These interventions can be seen as a space of sanctuary: fragile residences for imaginary people, a place for refuge. For Päiväläinen, building and creatively integrating these assembled shelters in the woods acts as a link to her memories of childhood and being one with nature. These photographs radiate timelessness, which carries its own defenseless fragility by reminding us all how important it is to be one with nature."

Excerpt from: Riitta Päiväläinen, The Helsinki School - The Nature of Being, Vol. 6, Hatje Cantz 2019.