MAATTELI / 2025
doppler effect/ 2025
Maybe i should burn this map / 2023
beats per minute / 2023
filmtowndogs / 2022
About
heiskanen.petja@gmail.com
+358407734851
heiskanen.petja@gmail.com
+358407734851
Maatteli is a mythical creature from Finnish folklore, known as a sacred animal representing prosperity, safety, and success in battle. Before humans, it dominated the top of the food chain, but with the arrival of humanity and climate changes, it became endangered, surviving only in small northern communities. Maatteli was seen as a messenger of the gods, but under the influence of Western civilization and the church, it was branded as dangerous. After its extinction, its symbolism shifted: Maatteli was believed to be a curse linked to melancholy and mental illness in humans.
Maatteli is imaginary animal created by my own subconscious to be able to understand death. Maatteli seeked in to my life through trauma.
My own story intertwined with Maatteli after my mother’s death. I found her lifeless after a sudden brain hemorrhage, and later, I was diagnosed with a hereditary brain disease myself. This experience brought Maatteli into my life as a dark yet comforting figure, a reminder of the inevitability of death. Maatteli symbolizes the traumatic reality I’ve had to learn to live with and is an way of survival.
Installation:
Krakow photomonth “fringe” section