tools for the gloaming

Maija Fox and Emma Hislop

At Paja Galleria, Helsinki

February 10 — 28, 2023

Photography by Emma Sarpaniemi

This exhibition makes reference to the histories of crafted utilities and the mood set by interior and exterior furnishings that highlight, protect and suppress both unnatural or natural elements. The sculptures presented seek out the weaving and swaying of utilities, structures, and moments; to find the point where the wobble of mechanisms finds a hesitation – a time and place of imagined crossing paths.


The installation conjures imagery of dressed scaffolding creating a curtain for the exterior of an adaptable structure, protection from the weather and for the workers. These structures are lit by fluorescent task lights from within its covers. They become ‘object-utilities’, both critiquing and lighting, lending hands/arms to support each other’s positions and adaptability to their impermanent placements in fluctuating environments.


The installation at Paja galleria is set by the stances of rushnips; the task lights for this space. The rush nip is both a precursor to and candlestick substitute. It creates a source of light from gathered rushes peeled to a thin strip, soaked in tallow, and held by a kind of plier mechanism.


This exhibition is a yearning to find the yellow glow under the chin. A moment laid next to hay bales en route to harvest that most precious resource; this winter’s light.

tools for the glaoming:detail, 2023
tools for the glaoming:detail, 2023
tools for the glaoming:,detail 2023
tools for the glaoming:,detail 2023
tools for the glaoming:,detail 2023
tools for the glaoming:detail, 2023
tools for the glaoming:detail, 2023
tools for the glaoming:detail, 2023
tools for the glaoming: installation overview, 2023
tools for the glaoming: installation overview, 2023
tools for the glaoming:detail, 2023
tools for the glaoming:,detail 2023
tools for the glaoming:,detail 2023
tools for the glaoming:,detail 2023
tools for the glaoming:detail, 2023
tools for the glaoming:detail, 2023
tools for the glaoming:detail, 2023
tools for the glaoming:detail, 2023

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