Art by Jani
Getting free
“The Last Drop”
Theme: Humbleness
A cup of sorrow is filled with tears.
And then comes the last drop,
that fills the bowl to the brim.
Then our internal eyes open and we will see
what is really important in life.
When we experience tragedies in our life, all materialism, titles and worldly things lose their meaning. When it gets serious, all that is unnecessary will fade away.
We stop and realize that love is the priority.
Love for our family and neighbors.
Sorrow strips us from pride.
Our eyes will open.
“Just a Little Bit More”
Theme: Greediness
A golden skeleton of Tyrannosaurus Rex runs around with its mouth wide open. This work symbolizes greediness. All that goes into the mouth will fall into the emptiness. The jawbone of the Rex is dislocated, and its mouth does not close. A never filling, bottomless maw.
Tyrannosaurus Rex is the king of tyranny. During its time it belonged to the highest ladder of the creation and food chain. It had small brains, but it hunted efficiently to its own benefit. The brains of people are much more developed. However, greediness has made humans similar to Rex.
J.D. Rockefeller, who became known as the oil baron, was the first millionaire of the 18th Century and the richest man of the world. He was once asked: “How much money is enough”? He replied: “Just a little bit more”. This shows the need of people to scrabble more and more without experiencing actual fulfillment.
Rockefeller was not greedy for money. He has said, that he never intended to become rich, but his passion was to build. He gave ten percent from his first paycheck to his church, and as his salary increased, so did the amount he donated.
“Chasing the Wind”
Theme: Accomplishment
In this work man chases the wind, which he can’t get a grip of. The more he pursuits it, the more he disappears himself with the wind. His own identity is lost and accomplishments become a huge part of his personality. Accomplishments – used for approving oneself conditionally.
Man thinks, that he can accept himself through suffering, but always after succeeding comes the feeling of inadequacy, and he can’t delight in his accomplishments. This same dysfunctional pattern occurs in spite of repetitious exhaustion.
”Do people really gain anything from all the hard work they do in this life? People live and people die, but the earth continues forever. The sun rises and the sun goes down, and then it hurries to rise again in the same place. The wind blows to the south, and the wind blows to the north. The wind blows around and around. Then it turns and blows back to the place it began. All rivers flow again and again to the same place. They all flow to the sea, but the sea never becomes full. Words can’t fully explain things, but people continue speaking. Words come again and again to our ears, but our ears don’t become full. And our eyes don’t become full of what we see. All things continue the way They have been since the beginning. The same things will be done that have always been done. There is nothing new in this life. Someone might say, “Look, this is new”, but that thing has always been there. It was there before we were. People don’t remember what happened long ago. In the future, they will not remember what is happening now. And later, other people will not remember what the people before them did.”
The Book of Ecclesiastes 1: 3-11
“Getting on Nerves”
Theme: Superficiality
Botox, a neurotoxin, is squeezed to the upper lip, giving this work its name: “Getting on Nerves”. Focusing obsessively on your lips has given delicious look, but has led to losing your face. Behind lips there´s found inclined tooth, which symbolizes never ending circle of self improvement.
Superficiality is ultimately self-worship. Concentration on the details of one’s looks is distorted. The purpose of this is to get attention and treat internal dissatisfaction, which can´t be achieved. Alternatively, a detail of one’s looks can turn into such a shameful trait that it becomes a restrictive factor in life.
“Playing with Fire"
Theme: Satisfaction
A burning arrow flies from the darkness. It flies slowly. This can
be noticed from the slope of the flame. This slowly flying arrow could be rejected. But the flame in the shape of a woman’s body steals the attention, which lures to play.
People play with fire, knowing that it will end badly.
“I gave my little finger;
and it took the whole hand.
I started playing with fire;
I did it in secrecy.
Now my heart is smoking with flames
and burning out”…
The female devil, Aki Sirkesalo
“Clothed with a Lie”
Theme: Shame
In this work a man is naked and ashamed of himself. To cover his nakedness, he has allowed a snake to sit in his shoulder. The snake feels uncomfortable, which can be detected from the tense shoulder. But people think it is better to cover yourself with a snake than revealing nakedness. Without noticing, the snake slithers on the back of a person and becomes one with him.
The snake symbolizes an excessive urge to please others, or alternatively the need to crush others. People either search for acceptation or highlight inferiority in others in order to accept themselves. However, neither of these ways can destroy the shame.
Shame can be caused by lack of self-worth. Being rejected in the childhood can be a reason for losing your dignity. A child does not blame their parents for rejection, but assumes there is something wrong
with him/herself. Sometimes a child is conditioned to get acceptance by pleasing others. Or, a child learns to emphasize some traits in order to accept him/herself. This is often how shame is inherited, if the parents haven’t been able to deal with it first.
The snake reflects negative behavioral patterns that are placed to people from the outside. You can get rid of the snake by understanding the law
of love: “Love your neighbor as yourself”.
“A Closed Heart”
Theme: Pride
In this work the muscles symbolize independence.
Everything around this body is white mist. It looks good, but in reality, a person is lost. He feels himself uncomfortable due to the chains. The chains are opened only by opening one’s own heart.
There is no key, but he needs to open it from within.
When a person has opened his heart, he will still need to
make a decision whether or not to cling in to the old, self-made cover.
People have hard time accepting their weaknesses, they will rather hide it. They rather build up a thick cover. An independent person can endure just anything, or can he?
A person who has not faced his weakness, hasn’t approved himself. He has not been able to grow the roots to stand up. Genuine strength can be achieved through facing one’s weaknesses. It is just a matter of time when
the self-made cover will break.
”The beginning of all wisdom is acknowledgement of facts.”
Juho Kusti Paasikivi
“A Time to Plant and a Time to Uproot”
Theme: Time
In this piece the sand in the hourglass is running out. However, from the middle of the sand something new is growing. New things are born from the dryness. The last grains of sand form the reaching hand over the seedling. There is a right time for everything, including itself, when the seedling is uprooted.
Time is the only capital that people have on earth. You never know when it ends, but the sure thing is that it decreases all the time. Do we actually
know how to use our time right.
The years roll by quickly. Hurry and worries fill the ordinary life. Do we know how to be present? A good indicator for it is to observe if we can
enjoy the miraculous nature like a small child. Is it that we have estranged from our origin, and haste has suppressed our ability to be present.
”There is a right time for everything, and everything on earth will happen at the right
time. There is a time to be born and a time to die. There is a time to plant and a time to
uproot. There is a time to kill and a time to heal. There is a time to destroy and a time to
build. There is a time to cry and a time to laugh. There is a time to be sad and a time to
dance with joy. There is a time to throw weapons down and a time to pick them up. There
is a time to hug someone and a time to stop holding so tightly. There is a time to look for
something and a time to consider its lost. There is a time to keep things and a time to
throw things away. There is a time to tear cloth and a time to sew it. There is a time to be
silent and a time to speak.There is a time to love and a time to hate. There is a time for
war and a time for peace.”
The Book of Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8
"Getsemane"
Theme: Mercy
"You carry the darkest burden of the night,
in the cold stone you lay your head.
Stay here awake with me, but we fail you.
A drop of the drink on your lips
you are sweating blood and you see.
Pale torch light of the army,
a head of snake is leading it.
Delivers Them to the garden
Getsemane is whispering your name,
you are praying that you could pass the grail.
Getsemane remembers your pain,
we are just having a cynical dream
in the safe shadow of the tree."
Getsemane, Jari Levy
Colours of Life
“The Way, the Truth and the Life”
A child walking on a path has stopped after seeing a butterfly. The
butterfly is white and looks innocent. It takes the child’s attention away
from advancing in life. When the butterfly gets more distant, does it
affect the child? Does she wander after the butterfly getting lost to a
forest, or does she manage to find her way?
Sometimes a small and innocent thing in life can lead astray: into some
circumstances that are just foreign to you.
There is a calling inside people to accomplish things in their very own
individual way. But ordinary life can be filled with factors that prevent
them from finding their own way.
“The Faith of a Child”
In the painting a child walks with small steps
in an open sea with her hands crossed.
All burdens, like greed, accomplishment, superficiality, satisfaction, shame and pride are stripped away. The gaze is aimed at the horizon.
"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."
Hepr. 11:1
“Tribulation”
Finlandia hymn
”Finland, behold, thy daylight now is dawning”
Theme: Finlandia hymn
Finland, behold, thy daylight now is dawning,
the threat of night has now been driven away.
The skylark calls across the light of morning,
the blue of heaven lets it have its sound,
and now the day the powers of night is scorning:
thy daylight dawns, O Finland of ours.
Finland, arise, and raise towards the highest
thy head now crowned with mighty memory.
Finland, arise, for to the world thou criest
that thou hast thrown off thy slavery,
beneath oppression's yoke thou never liest.
Thy morning's come, O Finland of ours.
"The threat of night has now been driven away"
Theme: Finlandia hymn
Finland, behold, thy daylight now is dawning,
the threat of night has now been driven away.
The skylark calls across the light of morning,
the blue of heaven lets it have its sound,
and now the day the powers of night is scorning:
thy daylight dawns, O Finland of ours.
Finland, arise, and raise towards the highest
thy head now crowned with mighty memory.
Finland, arise, for to the world thou criest
that thou hast thrown off thy slavery,
beneath oppression's yoke thou never liest.
Thy morning's come, O Finland of ours.
"Thy daylight dawns, O Finland of ours."
Theme: Finlandia hymn
Finland, behold, thy daylight now is dawning,
the threat of night has now been driven away.
The skylark calls across the light of morning,
the blue of heaven lets it have its sound,
and now the day the powers of night is scorning:
thy daylight dawns, O Finland of ours.
Finland, arise, and raise towards the highest
thy head now crowned with mighty memory.
Finland, arise, for to the world thou criest
that thou hast thrown off thy slavery,
beneath oppression's yoke thou never liest.
Thy morning's come, O Finland of ours.
"Finland, arise, for to the world thou criest that thou hast thrown off thy slavery"
Theme: Finlandia hymn
Finland, behold, thy daylight now is dawning,
the threat of night has now been driven away.
The skylark calls across the light of morning,
the blue of heaven lets it have its sound,
and now the day the powers of night is scorning:
thy daylight dawns, O Finland of ours.
Finland, arise, and raise towards the highest
thy head now crowned with mighty memory.
Finland, arise, for to the world thou criest
that thou hast thrown off thy slavery,
beneath oppression's yoke thou never liest.
Thy morning's come, O Finland of ours.
"Thy morning's come, O Finland of ours"
Theme: Finlandia hymn
Finland, behold, thy daylight now is dawning,
the threat of night has now been driven away.
The skylark calls across the light of morning,
the blue of heaven lets it have its sound,
and now the day the powers of night is scorning:
thy daylight dawns, O Finland of ours.
Finland, arise, and raise towards the highest
thy head now crowned with mighty memory.
Finland, arise, for to the world thou criest
that thou hast thrown off thy slavery,
beneath oppression's yoke thou never liest.
Thy morning's come, O Finland of ours.