As I was Someone's Shadow Side

About

‘As I Was Someone's Shadow Side' examines the nature of psychosis and the mind of a person who creates a whole new reality within one's own imagination. Both Karoliina Bärlund and Josefina Nelimarkka focus on the subject from the emotional side of mental disorders through various media. This fundraising exhibition will support the wellbeing of young people affected by mental illness in UK through a mental health charity YoungMinds. ‘As I Was Someone's Shadow Side' is curated by Vanessa Vainio. Karoliina Barlund looks into the subject through fashion and landscape imagery, and brings together a subject and a medium, which are not traditionally associated. In her work, she creates imagery that illustrates the emotions of a person living between different realities. To achieve this she has used visual effects to combine static and moving imagery as well as using blurred images. The juxtaposition of the moving and static images reflects on the nature of psychosis, and the blurred images are a reflection of something that is present and absent simultaneously. This is what happens in the mind of a mentally disordered persons mind, the reality and the surreal are present at the same time. Karoliina Barlund currently resides in London and Helsinki, splitting her time in both London and Helsinki working as a freelance photographer. Josefina Nelimarkka explores different states of mind and the blurred realities between them through a language of painting and drawing which is abstract, yet physical. She connects the conscious and unconscious processes in the artistic production to articulate the idea of control and the loss of it. In her paintings, material and spatial qualities are merged to bring forth the emotions in between the layers of existence, and her abstraction maintains the tension between presence and absence of the body. Likewise, with her process-based drawing series, Josefina Nelimarkka creates movement from reality to fantasy. What arises from her work can be mediated to the mental processes associated with psychosis and other states of consciousness. Josefina Nelimarkka is an artist living in London and Helsinki. Contact: Karoliina Barlund karoliina@karoliinabarlund.com +44 (0) 78 5174 7381(UK) +358 (0) 50 537 7159 (Finland) www.karoliinabarlund.com Josefina Nelimarkka josefina.nelimarkka@gmail.com +44 (0) 75 7246 2792 (UK) www.josefinanelimarkka.com Blackall Studios: Vanessa Vainio (Curator) vanessa@blackallstudios.com +44 (0) 20 7739 9551 www.blackallstudios.com Opening hours: February 10th 6pm-9pm February 11th 11am-6pm February 12th 12pm-6pm