On the set by Jenni Toikka
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Finnish Cultural Foundation Residency Alumni
Jenni Toikka, Hôtel Chevillon, 2017
20.12.2018
Jenni Toikka is a Helsinki based visual artist working predominantly with moving images. She worked at Hôtel Chevillon in 2017.
I received a grant from The Finnish Cultural Foundation for artistic work at the Hôtel Chevillon in France from June to September 2017. The time at the residence was, for me, in many ways, important and relevant.
The picturesque village and Hôtel Chevillon has attracted artists as early as the 1800s. This history is still emphasized among the people and is very much present This is evident in how the residence is organized, for example, the artists are free to use their time as they choose. When needed, you have your privacy and peace, but the residence also offers you the backing of a community of different artists and researchers.
During my residence, I tried to be as open as I could so as to absorb and pick up environmental influence as a visual means but also to find out special features of this specific area. The residence is located next to vast natural reserves of which the forests, large sandstone blocks and soil fascinated me. I also found out that in the southern extension of the forests there was an architecturally surprising museum of prehistory, where, in my mind, many interesting elements met and became the location of my video work.
During the residency, I visited, among many interesting places, Maison Louis Carré due in part to a joint exhibition I will have with Eeva-Riitta Eerola, to be held there in September 2019.
Jenni Toikka is a Helsinki-based visual artist working predominantly with moving images. She graduated from the Helsinki Academy of Fine Arts in 2012. The topic of her work is often drawn away from its context and handled through visual art and moving image. Toikka ponders what happens when the usual way of thinking of something is changed and, in this way, what kind of new meanings it may be given.
