Works

Aarne and Arja is a series of images about two figures who live side by side—moving through the same spaces, the same days, and the changing seasons. They inhabit a small, circular world where everyday life and repetition take on new meanings.

The images can be viewed from a distance, projected onto a wall, and experienced by placing oneself in front of them. Gradually, it becomes clear that they are not just images, but an opened space.

The series emerges from closeness: from the act of one looking and the other being looked at. Within the images, tenderness and cruelty, play and compulsion, unfold at the same time.

This is a story about two people and what it feels like to be seen.

Aarne and Arja Jämsä are long-established visual artists whose practices run in parallel—at times intertwining, at times colliding.

Aarne Jämsä (born 1956) is a sculptor known for his material-defying and playfully anarchistic approach. His works have been widely exhibited in Finland and internationally, and are included in the collections of Kiasma as well as in those of several cities and foundations.

Arja Jämsä (born 1957) is a painter whose practice moves within the realms of observation, repetition, and personal imagery. Her paintings form series in which the everyday and the absurd intertwine.

Together they form an artist duo whose work blends life and art—sometimes directly, sometimes mercilessly, but always in a way that is distinctly their own. Their shared imagery explores themes such as the body, ageing, and relationships without smoothing them over.