Juha Pekka Matias Laakkonen

Juha Pekka Matias Laakkonen is a Finnish artist whose practice is a complex game of perception. His works reflect on the human impact on nature and reveal the existential anxiety over life, death and limits of scientific knowledge. Working in sculpture, installation and durational performance, Laakkonen utilises raw, natural materials, such as wood and fibres, and through most simplistic tools, such as needles, knives or axes, reinvents their essence. His practice contemplates the relationship between seeing the work of art as opposed to knowing the meaning of the work of art, as well as the potential utility of such a distinction. Ultimately, Laakkonen’s works resist being placed in a context, contemporary relevance or art historical definitions. However, through such neutral detachment from reality, his works become evermore present, challenging human agency amidst the environmental crisis.