Beneath the Surface

2024 · Exhibition Series
Medium: Mordançage photography on photographic paper, mixed media
Dimensions: Variable, approximately 20 works

An exploration of consumer spaces through mordançage photography, examining the tension between commercial aspiration and economic reality through chemically manipulated photographic prints.

Exhibition History

Pimiö 25 Exhibition, Galleria West, Helsinki, Finland · September 2025
Group exhibition at Galleria West, showcasing a variaty of analogue processes.

Art for All Festival, Easton Käytävä, Helsinki, Finland · August 2025
Solo exhibition featuring approximately 20 mordançage prints installed in empty mall space during the Art for All festival.

The work was created under intense time pressure, with the entire process—from shooting to installation—completed in approximately one week.

Installation view at Art for All Festival — *Installation view showing the full gallery space*

Wall installation detail — *Wall-mounted works showing mordançage treatments*

Gallery wall with multiple works — *Multiple works creating visual dialogue across the space*

Table installation with prints — *Table installation*

Artistic Process

The series emerged from an intense week-long creative sprint, beginning with photographing the Easton Mall spaces and culminating in a full installation. This compressed timeline became integral to the work's conceptual framework, mirroring the pressure and urgency of commercial cycles.

Production Timeline

Day 1: Location photography (2 rolls of film)
Day 2: Film processing and contact printing
Day 3: Production printing (~50 prints total)
Day 4: Mordançage treatment (20 selected prints)
Day 5-6: Framing and installation

Prints drying in studio — *Prints drying during the intensive production period*

Technical Notes

The mordançage process involves treating developed silver gelatin prints with a bleaching solution that softens the emulsion, allowing it to be physically manipulated, stretched, or removed from the paper base. This technique, dating to the 19th century, creates unique textures and surface qualities impossible to achieve through digital means.

Conceptual Framework

Beneath the Surface operates on multiple levels of meaning:

Physical Transformation: The mordançage process literally transforms the photographic surface, paralleling the economic and social transformations affecting retail spaces.

Temporal Pressure: The compressed production timeline reflected the urgent, speculative nature of commercial development and its equally rapid obsolescence.

Spatial Context: Exhibiting in the Easton Hansakäytävä mall, where the images were taken, created a direct dialogue between the work and its subject matter, with the installation inhabiting the same type of space it critiques.

Documentation and Reception

The work was documented extensively during both production and exhibition phases. The intense timeline and alternative venue contributed to strong engagement from festival audiences, many of whom were experiencing mordançage processes for the first time.