2019 JAN–JUN
Visual artist Jonna Kina likes to look behind the scenes
Kina’s Arr. For a Scene recreates the soundscape of the legendary shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s movie Psycho.
Jonna Kina, Arr. for a Scene, 2017, 35mm film transferred to 4K/HD, 5min 18sec, color, sound, installation view, together with Sharon Lockhart, Recordings exhibition, Ama Gallery, Helsinki, Finland, 2017.
Visual artist Jonna Kina’s multidisciplinary work challenges and plays with the viewer’s senses. One of her latest works is an audio re-enactment of the legendary shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s movie Psycho, featuring two sound artists engaged in a complex choreography that recreates the scene’s soundscape with the help of mundane everyday objects. Kina will attend The Academy of Fine Arts’ residency supported by the Saastamoinen Foundation at ISCP, New York January – June 2019.
“Of the five senses, sound has always been the most important one to me. I learned about the profession of sound artists; “foley-artists”, and the process of creating movie sound effects while I was studying at The Academy of Fine Arts in Finland. At first, I couldn’t believe that for example the sound of horse hooves is typically made using coconut shells. Sound can create a powerful illusion.”
Looking behind the scenes, closely examining processes and maybe turning things a bit upside down characterize Jonna Kina’s works. Her multimedia pieces often combine image, sound, and installation, activating the viewer’s curiosity and inviting them to challenge their preconceived notions of what they are looking at. Kina’s artistic practice is largely based on investigation:
Kina’s sculpture Retractor Hydrobag is an exact replicate of the tool employed in the quarrying industry to separate marble away from the Earth. The sculpture was created by using 3D-scanning and robotic engraving techniques, and plays with the ideas of classical statuary and the industrial methods of the marble quarries.
Jonna Kina, Retractor Hydrobag, 2018, carrara white, 95 x 90 x 26cm, installation view, Beaconsfield Gallery, London, 2018
“My studio setup is ascetic. I only really need a table, a chair and four walls around. The important thing about working in the studio is having an empty space, where the conceptual parts of the works can develop.”
Kina has operated internationally from the start of her career: in addition to graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts and from Aalto University, School of Arts in Finland, she has also studied abroad at the School of Visual Arts, New York and at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem. Kina’s works have been widely presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions around the world, and she recently returned from a three-month residency period at Tokyo Arts and Space.
The film Somnivm explores the conflicts of nature and culture. During the winter of 2017/2018, Kina researched how the exploitation of natural resources at the marble quarries of Carrara continues to transform the landscape. Kina has digitally removed all elements of human activity, such as vehicles and tools, from the frame, resulting in a dream-like impression of timelessness and a post-human world.
Jonna Kina, Somnivm, 2017-2018, 35mm film transferred to 4K/HD, 12min 39sec, color, sound, installation view, Beaconsfield Gallery, London, 2018.