2024 Finalists
Siiri Jüris
Volatile bodies II
ca 95×92 cm, acrylic and graphite on canvas, wood, 2024
My work focuses on the material — the bodily and the painting matter — and the ambiguity embedded in the physical act of touch. These central themes of my work have remained consistent, yet my approach has evolved with each new series in the past years.
By combining painting, graphic elements, and digital tools, I craft a hybrid visual language that narrates stories of emotional communication, coexistence, belonging, and care, as well as symbiosis and strife. I work with materials from archives alongside poetic and philosophical texts, blending these sources with personal memories and fictional narratives. These elements are translated into vibrant bodily landscapes where abstract and figurative, natural and synthetic, traditional and digital visual languages converge.
Over the past two years, through themes of coexistence and the exploration of folklore and history, I have been searching for ways to seamlessly increase the use of digital tools, approaches, and filters in my traditional manual painting process. This has transformed my workflow into a symbiotic relationship between myself, the paint matter, and the computer.
The latest two works titled Volatile bodies I & II draw inspiration from the concept of wrestling, incorporating both literal wrestling match footage and a metaphorical exploration of the ongoing struggle between figurative and abstract elements, various textures, and materials within my work. I have incorporated new methods, including using AI tools to interpret my paintings and suggest specific shapes and color combinations, as well as utilizing Photoshop, 3D modeling, and 3D printing. This new layer of wrestling between manual work and digital tools has encouraged me to extend the painting beyond its borders, continuing them onto 3D frames – both printed and carved out of wood. With each new work, I aim to further integrate the symbiosis between the manual and digital, as it reflects contemporary coexistence, while continuing to experiment with different approaches.
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