Artist Anna Estarriola: “I don’t have any answers, I present doubts”

Artist Anna Estarriola: “I don’t have any answers, I present doubts”

Anna Estarriola’s works focus on the extremely timely topic: human interactions at the age of technology. She explores the ways our relationships, identities and culture are changing or affected by technology. Helsinki-based artist is having her first exhibition in Watermans Art Centre in London. Her works are presented in a group exhibition called Human Factors, with Hanna Haaslahti, Tyler Henry and Yassine Khaled. What Estarriola has to say about her works?

Your piece Reincarnation Falieur  looks like a hairy creature with human face. Can you tell something about it?

“In Reincarnation Falieur I present something that reminds us of a dog, with a human living inside of it. It represents the idea of being born in a given body or surroundings. It is in relation with people, who don’t feel right in their body, and people who have been born in a place where there is no choice. I’m not a religious person, but I often play with beliefs. I think that the reality is full of mysteries and we’re just trying to understand it through religions.”

What about the other piece?

Landscape is half microscope and half telescope placed on top of a table. When you look through the lense, you see little humans who are left with nothing but each other. I have these naive post-apocalyptic thoughts, that maybe we humans will survive after all.”

Do you have a message behind these pieces?

“No, I just wonder about everything. The pieces are not based on any theories or any certainty. They are based on doubts.”

What are the usual topics you like to wonder?

“Mostly I think about human beings and human behaviour, our perceptions of the reality, and the ways we act upon it. I’m interested in the context and the space that we’re living in, and the consequences of our actions, and what motivates us to do something.”

You mix sculpture, dance and media in your work. How do you work?

“I like so many things it is hard for me to choose one. I start working from sketches, where my ideas can be big and cost a lot of money. Then I start fighting to get the ideas together in a possible and affordable way. I work both by myself and with others, because there are so many things I don’t know. Thanks to that, I have ended up meeting so many wonderful people from the scientific and medical field. I have also collaborated with other creative minds, like a sound designer and cinematographers. Finland has been really inspirational place to work for me. There are many special places for concentration.”

Human Factors -exhibition, Watermans Art Centre,  40 High St, Brentford TW8 0DS. https://www.watermans.org.uk/events/human-factors/. 17.10.2018.–6.1.2019. Admission: free.

Text: Anna Suoninen Photo: Aino-Sofia Niklas-Salminen


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