I saw a Sun crawling on my Bed — I saw the Sun growing two Wings // Helmi Nieminen & Milou van Vlijmen

Trixie is pleased to announce the first duo presentation “I saw a Sun crawling on my Bed / I saw the Sun growing two Wings” by Helmi Nieminen and Milou van Vlijmen. Within this artistic dialog the two aim to unravel age-old myths and beliefs surrounding the symbol of the sun as a source of life, destruction and renewal through a new body of works.

PROGRAM
The exhibition will be on view from the 12th till 14th of May, 13:00 – 19:00h
Opening  Friday, 12th of May, from 18:00 at Trixie, Scheldestraat 1, The Hague.
In addition, the artists host Sunlit Slips, a morning ritual on Sunday 14th of May, 11:00 — 13:00
This show is the first instalment of Trixie’s program From Dawn to Dusk.

When fog clears, and consciousness awakens, happiness rises as inevitably as the Sun.
Sun (XIX) From: Noble, Vicki. Motherpeace, a way to the goddess through myth art and tarot. New York, 1983.

a Sun crawling on my Bed / I saw the Sun growing two Wings marks the first duo-exhibtion of recent graduates Helmi Nieminen and Milou van Vlijmen in The Hague. What started as a dialog through poetry, connecting Helsinki and Amsterdam during the cold and short days of winter, became the fertile soil that nourishes the grounds for this artistic exploration into the longing for sunlight and its layered meanings.

Within this artistic dialog the two aim to unravel age-old myths and beliefs surrounding the symbol of the sun as a source of life, destruction and renewal through a new body of works.  Within their practice the two are often creating otherworldly and absurdistic narratives to reflect on the here and now and to allow space to reimagine the current. By mediating between a variety of mediums and between reality and imagination, Helmi and Milou create a space for sensitivity and intimacy that allows us to imagine  new worlds in turbulent times. A space that centers around the idea of rebirth, the feeling of lifeliness that we feel when our skin warms through the sun and our environment starts to bloom.

During I saw a Sun crawling on my Bed / I saw the Sun growing two Wings Milou will present her latest work I saw the Sun growing two Wings – ACT I., the first part of a trilogy that is loosely based on the fairytale ‘The Cat’ from the book ‘The Cat, A Tale of Feminine Redemption’ by Marie-Louise Von Franz. Helmi presents a body of new sculptures which she created recentlyby collecting yellow fabrics to feel closer to the sun during the darkest months of the year.

When you get the Sun in a reading, you can relax and enjoy yourself, it’s going to be a good day, week or year.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Helmi is working with drawing, ceramics, metal, paper mache and textile. Through  colorful installations her works come together and invite the viewer to step inside her universe. Helmis’ world is inhabited by animals, trolls, dragons and other imagined characters. These characters are free from binary norms and other human structures. With her installations Helmi wants to create space for sensitivity, honesty and imagining new worlds. All of which are vital in these turbulent times.

Milou is an artist based in Amsterdam. Her works take the form of installations in which she uses video, sound, photography, sculpture, crafts and prop making. In her work she deals with storytelling through material and movement, taking observations from everyday life as a starting point. The subjects in her works center around absurdist narratives often involving the female body in numerous identities performing ubiquitous rituals from eating, to dancing, to the application and customisation of cosmetics and costumes. Recurring themes are the mundane, motherhood and the representation of women, using humor and play as a tool to negotiate a position within the societies we live in.

FROM DUSK TIL DAWN
Dawn till Dusk is the overarching theme of Trixie’s May program. Within this triptych of exhibitions, Carmen Dusmet Carrasco, Helmi Nieminen & Milou van Vlijmen and Carmen Roca Igual will present their latest creations over the course of three weekends in the format of solo and duo presentations. Throughout the program, the artists invite us to enter their interpretations of reality by guiding us through their personal and political experiences. From creating spaces of intimacy in the first beams of the sun to questioning self-value in post-digital times to confronting moments of uncertainty in the darkest hours of the night, each show will transform Trixie’s gallery into a new world. Dawn till Dusk is held together by the artist’s ability to offer a space for reflection and understanding oneself.

This exhibition was made possible by Amarte Fonds & Frame Contemporary Art Finland