The third exhibition at 18 Hampstead Hill Gardens brings together a new body of paintings by Finnish artist Nastja Ronkko. Born from her desire to unmask an elusive liminal state of being, Ronkko’s work seeks to occupy an oscillatory position between the quotidian and the fantastical, manifest through her intuitive yet purposeful pictorial processes. Depicting and abstracting images of animals, hair, landscapes and theatrical scenery, these paintings present pictures of intimacy, sexuality and loss. Several of these new works are the result of the artist’s recent travels across the expansive landscapes of the great American plains of Montana and Wyoming, drawing on encounters, both real and imaginary, with the untamed nature found there.
Wolves and horses act as recurring motifs within Ronkko’s practice, their position reflecting a residual girlhood fascination, standing as a mirror through which the formative experiences of the female sexuate subject might be glimpsed. The wild mustangs of Wyoming have become creatures of particular fascination as beasts that occupy a uniquely liminal position, strangers to the received hierarchical order of man and animal. Within this new body of work, Ronkko explores the notion of living on the threshold of wildness, and attempts to awaken a girlhood nostalgia for this idealised sense of being.
Nastja Ronkko; graduated with an MFA from the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, in 2011. Previous solo exhibitions include ‘Weird and Wonderful’ at tm-gallery, Helsinki, Finland (2010), and ‘Cake Shop’, Transition Gallery Shop Space, London (2009). Recent performances include ‘Soil Brick Soil’ (with Kate Lepper) as part of Ciao! Modernism at Guest Projects, London (2012), ‘Undo Ritual II’ at Transmuted Festival Internacional de Performance, Mexico City, and ‘Purge’ performance, V Bienale de Jafre, Jafre, Spain (all 2011). Her work has been supported by The Arts Council of Finland and FRAME, Finnish Fund for Art Exchange. In 2009 she was the recipient of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK scholarship.
www.nastjaronkko.com
18 Hampstead Hill Gardens London www.18HHG.com
