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Anssi Ruuska: Haihtuva metsä

5.8.-4.9. Gallery space of Photographic Centre Nykyaika

A thought - what if the forests were to disappear? This abstract question is based on change seen and experienced in nature. I was surprised by the new endangered species in The Red List of Finnish Species (2019). The sixth wave of extinction is here, and even the willow tit is highly endangered. From this concern came this body of work that deals with forests, clear cutting, and the diminishing of diversity. When walking through the exhibition space, the viewer may sense this feeling of fading away and the impact human actions have on nature.  

The images were shot on Polaroid between 2020 and 2023.  

Anssi Ruuska is a photography artist from Jyväskylä, living in the Säynätsalo archipelago. He has worked with photography since 2018 and utilizes a vast array of different techniques in his work. He graduated as a master photographer in 2020 from Gradia, Jyväskylä.  

"In his work Anssi Ruuska examines the world through primitive instincts. The lines and formations that nature shapes have something familiar in them - are they distant memories of our ancestors? Anssi's work are minimalistically stylish and aesthetic photos of nature that speak to the deepest layers of one's subconsciousness." 

-Joonas Ahtikallio  

The exhibition and Ruuska's work have received support from Arts Promotion Centre Finland and the Raija and Ossi Tuuliainen Foundation.