Pääkkönen, Maria

Interior / Exterior

2025 /1

The doors and windows are open and a cool breeze is blowing through the house. Birdsong rings
out loud over the rain and the structures quietly creak by themselves. Downstairs, between two
larger rooms, is an empty space with faded wallpaper covering the walls. I peer under its bubbling
edge. The damp yellowish wallpaper peels away easily. I tear off the first choke. Underneath
reveals a grey paint surface, like a piece of cloudy sky. I make more openings into another time
and space, windows in and out. Against the paleness of the sky, dark branches slowly begin to
emerge. One by one they break out of the cracks, poking out of the gaps in the skirting boards
and continue climbing towards and through the ceiling, growing into the layers of the house. The
porous rubbing of charcoal mixes with the sounds from outside and fixes me into this moment.
I spend three days in the house removing, adding, opening and growing.
www.mariapaakkonen.com

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