7 September –28 October 2018
Milla Vaahtera (born 1981) is a Helsinki-based artist and furniture designer working at the interfaces of sculpture and design. The themes of her work as an artist are corporeality, appropriations of space and sexuality and her materials are wood, foam rubber, glass and metal.
Dialogue is an exhibition consisting of mobiles and stabiles made of free-blown glass and hand-worked brass. The ethereal pieces are a revival of the mobile tradition that emerged in the 1930s. This exhibition addresses corporeality and places the person moving in the exhibition space in a relationship with the delicate works. The heavy glass parts and the delicate brass seek a balance with each other, thus creating tensions within the works.
Vaahtera began to work on this series in May 2017 together with glassblowers Paula Pääkkönen, Sani Lappalainen, Pauli Vähäsarja, Henni Eliala and Jonas Paajanen of Nuutajärvi. The metal parts were prepared by silversmith Kirsi Kokkonen together with Milla Vaahtera. The method was based on dialogue and intuition. With these works, Vaahtera wants to revive the Finnish heritage of glassblowing, on behalf of which the exhibition is a statement.
Design Club is Design Museum’s corporate network, the members of which are interested in creating new business opportunities with the aid of design. Design Club Open Call is a three-year series of exhibitions seeking impressive content and offering companies an opportunity to support new creative ventures.
