Forgetting the Self, 2021
This series of works on Japanese rice paper began slowly in 2013 after I got back from Nairobi, Kenya. It has coincided with my zen-practice and I see my this series as a continued contemplative artistic practice. None of these works has ever been shown in private shows, but many of the works in this ongoing series have found their ways to private collections all around the world.
The Origins : Fragments of the Hunt, 2018
The Origins (2015–2020) presents a compelling argument that human imagination and art was evolved due to ancient art of persistence hunting (running and tracking down animals). The principal cinematography was executed among the Ju/‘hoan hunter-gatherers at the Nyae Nyae Conservancy in the Kalahari desert in Namibia and among the Ráramuri of the Mexican Sierra Madre.
2013, india ink and watercolor on paper, 50 x 38 cm
Private collection, Nairobi, Kenya
From Colonial to Global, 2013
This series of works on paper was started in Nairobi, Kenya in May 2013, where the works were shown together with Andries Fourie (USA) and Nicky Marais (Namibia).
2011, Finnish National Theatre
Kertomuksia Keittiöstä, 2011
Kertomuksia keittiöstä (The Tales from the Kitchen) – was a play built around the songs by Maija Kaunismaa, who also performed this play only by herself. The lyrics were written by Sofi Oksanen
Vincent van Gogh & Walt Disney Collection
This widely exhibited body of works (from 2006–2008) now found from the Finnish National Gallery involves replicas of historical objects and imaginary collector items. The work could be described as cultural criticism, with focus on cultural myths and fetishes
Samsara : 300 km Pilgrimage, 2016
I went out running from Helsinki to Jyväskylä on the midsummers eve in 2016 with an intention of getting there in time to open my photography exhibition a week later. The exhibition would consist of photographs taken along my route depicting the Finnish countryside in its full glory.
2013, Charcoal on Paper
75 x 100 cm
Collection of the Finnish Theatre Museum
When the Doves Disappeared, 2013
I was involved making drawings, films, animations and photograps for the stage adaptation of the “When the Doves Disappeared” a novel by Sofi Oksanen. It is a story of occupation, resistance, and collaboration in Estonia during and after World War II. The play premiered in 2013.
2012, Collaborative work with Paola Suhonen
Amos Andersson Art Museum
The Land of the Seven Fairytales, 2012
This was a collaboration between myself and fashion designer and film-maker Paola Suhonen in 2012.
2010, iPad drawing, archival ink-jet print on canvas
140 x 105 cm
iPhone, iPad and Computer Works, 2009–2011
I was deeply involved making works with new digital mediums between 2009–2011. These works are descriptions of perception and the attempt to capture perception as it is felt with digital madium cabable capturing light and fleeting moments.
Bad Idea and Other Works
While living in New York City in 2003 I began to break up from Photography and ventured into painting and objects. This collection of works from 2003–2006 involve captures from my life, simple and childlike abstractions and ridiculous conceptual ideas.
Mikko Ijäs 