Spiritus

Spiritus is a photographic series by artist Venla Kaasinen featuring images of Nordic plants - wild strawberries, lingonberries, rowan, lupines, dandelions - that hold cultural, medicinal, and personal significance. Kaasinen has immersed herself in each plant by reading scientific publications and literature, and by spending time at their natural habitats, photographing and collecting them.

The core of the process lies in the treatment of film negatives: finished negatives are immersed in a decoction made from each plant. The plant leaves its mark on the film, altering or even destroying the emulsion - the result can be color shifts, textures, or the complete disappearance of the image. Kaasinen describes her method as alchemical: the goal is to distill the essence, nature, or spirit of the plant - spiritus.

Venla Kaasinen (born 1992) is a photographer from Central Finland who works primarily with analog and experimental photography. She graduated as a visual artist from Turku University of the Arts in 2023 and will begin her master's studies in photography at the University of Gothenburg in autumn 2026. The project has been supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the TOP Foundation.

Organizer: Jyväskylä Artists' Association, [email protected], 0408243031