THE WOMEN FROM SEILI
Seili is an island in Nauvo, in the Turku Archipelago. The island has a long history as an isolated hospital island. As early as 1619, by order of the King, construction began on Seili to house lepers and the poor and infirm, including the blind, the deaf, and those unable to walk. When leprosy began to disappear from Finland in the 18th century, more and more mentally ill patients were placed on the island. Seili became home to Finland’s first mental hospital. The hospital was closed in 1962.
From 1889 to 1945, the patients were exclusively women. My work focuses on studying this part female community. Seili received incurably mentally ill and criminally marked “hopeless cases,” usually for the rest of their lives. The grounds for admission—and often also the diagnosis—was social deviance or immorality. A typical patient was young, unmarried, and from a lower social class. In society, they were considered both harmful and dangerous to others, to their families, and to potential offspring. On Seili, control over both mind and body was exercised. The treatments included baths, spirits, and God. The women of Seili lived for years on the island in a small community, with other patients and a few nurses.
I wanted to create a sculpture series of these women—portraying them as individuals and as a collective, united by the bruises of life and mind, and by the small world of Seili. At first, I could only see their immense sorrow and despair, which felt overwhelming. But then I tried to find glimpses of light, moments of joy amidst the crushing darkness. They had one another, beautiful nature, the island, the sea, and the sky. The suffering images became slightly more vibrant. The figures bear labels that reflect what they were called in their previous lives before Seili. On the island, those labels ultimately lost their meaning. Emotion and the spirit of the times are reflected in gestures, expressions, postures, colors, and the groups. Within this thematic framework, a complete composition emerged, including the sea surrounding the island, the wind, and Seili’s unique nature.
My women are of different ages, beautiful, calm, and purposefully very ordinary—so that anyone could imagine themselves as one of them. I want the women of Seili not to be forgotten. Many of them were surely seriously ill, but I’m left wondering how many had simply broken hearts, were bruised by life’s misfortunes—women who could have been supported and helped back into daily life. I keep asking myself: what has changed today? How well do we accept difference or recognize another person’s distress? I want to awaken public interest in the island’s history, the people disappearing into the past, and in the social and women’s history of Finland.
My latest works have been sculptures – a series of people and animals that I associate with a certain time, phenomenon, or event. Within the theme, a whole is born, bound together by finesse and a story.
Captivating subjects are historical figures who have left traces in documents and whose appearance has sometimes been preserved in portraits. By studying these, I try to breathe life into the figures, to show that they did exist – and then let the imagination take over. There is always something that connects them to our time. The best outcome would be if the viewer could experience something similar and feel a sense of belonging.
I am educated as a Master of Arts and as an engineer in process and material technology. Most of my career, I have worked as a designer for Finnish international companies. My three professional and personal elements – designer, engineer, and artist – merge and complement each other, creating balance in my work and daily life. They drive me forward and push me to take on new challenges, sometimes even completely crazy projects. www.helisade.fi
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