Isabella Chydenius: Liminal Locations

Snow is delighted to present Liminal Locations, the first solo exhibition by the Finnish interdisciplinary artist Isabella Chydenius (b.1988) at Snow. Isabella Chydenius recently made her home in Berlin, in interesting surroundings to continue her conceptual research based practice that is focused on the (un)safety and togetherness in the night and urban underground nightclub culture.

In her practice, Chydenius directs attention to nightclubs as platforms that hold time-space for momentary sense of belonging, empowerment and freedom, especially in terms of femininity and queerness, serving as a catalyst for change in the society. With Liminal Locations, we see light sculptures, ripped clothes and video, with the reoccurring elements square shape and colour pink representing aspects of the topics of Chydenius’ research and the collective memories in the night and its clubs.

‘My research-based practice focuses on investigating (un)safety and togetherness in the night and urban underground nightclub culture. I am specifically interested in the visual and emotional architecture of the night, and what elements may be found and observed in spaces that aim to foster free expression, re-imagination of self and a collective agenda, how that time-space may historically and still today serve as a catalyst for change in society.

Light, ripped clothes, photography, video and written word are some of the main mediums through which I bring elements of lived experiences and research to light, by creating sculptures and immersive installations.

Since graduating from an MFA in April 2021, I have been moving from one residency to another, before settling in Berlin, and became interested in how the mood in my immersive large-scale installations may be “bottled up” in order to be easier to bring with and keep close to oneself as more than just a memory. Intrigued by the idea that objects only have importance to the person who has a personal reference or memory with it, I challenged myself to create work that reminds us of objects. These “objects” or sculptures therefor serve as smaller representations of the topics of my research and collective memories in the night and its clubs.

With my pieces made of ripped clothes, I specifically want to draw attention to the dichotomies of the dance floor; the excitement and possibility of self-expression and momentary feeling of freedom that the time-space may offer, while acknowledging the reality of experiences that may not always be possible to undress and wash off at the end of the night.

The square shape is a repeated pattern in my work. Also here, in there squared light sculptures, the square represents my examination of the discussed time-space of “safe(r) space” nightclubs from both a physical and theoretical aspect, viewing the dichotomy of the spaces as both limited and liminal. In the works at Snow, the shape of a square is re-created both through light and ripped clothes, while the ripped clothes and light gestures the potential of both mediums overflowing the square, escaping it’s dictated constructs.

All work is approached through the lens of the colour I’ve titled Club Pink. I work with the colour pink, as I have interpreted the colour from underground nightclubs as a visual metaphor for the collective associations that the spaces foster, as well as a development in the history of the colour including its problems and potential.’

Isabella Chydenius, June 2022

Curated by Susanne Johansson