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M
aritta Nurmi, a visual art-
ist from Finland, has been
based in Hanoi since 1994.
Her artistic practice includes
painting and installation. Maritta’s back-
ground both in art and in natural sci-
ences, together with her long term stay
in Asia, provide multilayered and mul-
ticultural influences for her art. In her
time here she has also actively fostered
links between the Finnish and Vietnam-
ese cultures.
Her works explore the metaphysical,
probing the concrete meaning and essence
of form and spirit.
Depicting animals has long been the
domain of artists since the first recorded
Paleolithic cave paintings in France and
Spain. Recent research suggests these
were largely created by women, and Nurmi
contniues the tradition.
The artist’s current work uses the ani-
mal form in many guises. Through it, Nur-
mi seems to be questioning the necessity
of man to create form, to suggest a bond
between human and nature, and the im-
plications of such a need or desire.
She says: “Many contemporary artists
have chosen to use animals in their work
as the ultimate “other”, as metaphor and
as reflection.”
Nurmi questions whether this need
to depict animals is an attempt to un-
derstand what it means to be animal,
or whether it is an expression of our
increasing alienation to nature, a loss of
this primal connection.
Nurmi was trained as a biologist, so
this exploration and fascination with the
animal world is not new. Her works are at
once physical, and yet they seem to yearn
to be free from constraint.
She questions the apparent human
need to have form and boundaries. She
wonders if it is a fear of the limitlessness
of eternity, a fear of death or a fear of
the unknown.
The animal figures in the current
works are formed from patterns - layer
upon layer, colliding and combining in
a whimsical animated fashion, produc-
Exploring the metaphysical
Long-time Hanoi expat artist, Maritta Nurmi, has a new solo show at Manzi
art space that ties a lot of her key themes together.
Duc Hanh
takes a look
at her work.
ing works humorous on one hand and
thought provoking on the other.
Her monkey paintings use a popular
metallic wallpaper. Nurmi seems to sug-
gest their form is superficial, playing once
again to the human need to conceptualise
form for a sense of security and relevance.
The bird series also suggests a sense of
existence and non-existence, the birds ap-
pearing and disappearing as the viewer
alters their view.
Dogs n’ Roses and Dogs n’ Dots are the
anchors of the exhibition. Unabashedly
playful, the colourful patterned surfaces
of the dogs, with their bright confronta-
tional gaze, seem to demand a response,
a reckoning of this need to conceptualise
reality. Do they exist or do they not? Are
they mere flights of fancy, or are they real?
Is it important to be or not to be?
‘Anima’ is on display at Manzi art
space, 14 Phan Huy Ich, Hanoi from now
until the end of November 2013 (every-
day from 9am to midnight).