Rauha Helin
Katoan Katseelta / I Dissapear from the Gaze
[2023-2026]
Pohjavirta / Undercurrent
[2024-]
The photograph is a desperate
attempt to hold on to
[2024]
Installation Views
Printed works
Biography / CV
rauha.helin(at)gmail.com
Katoan Katseelta / I Dissapear from the Gaze
2023-2026
Katoan Katseelta (I Disappear from the Gaze) is performative gesture, which examines the transformation of self-image through five months without mirrors. The study based on a simple question: can your self-image change if you don´t see yourself for a long enough period of time? Through this work, I explore how both photography and mirror affect self-image in a society that values appearance.
While I was working on these topics I have become itrested about post-social-media thinking in the field of contemporary art and especially in the context of photography. As I turned my gaze away from the mirrors, I also drifted further away from social media. I noticed how, through the performance, my image of myself as a living being became clearer and deeper than when I perceived myself through my reflection in the mirrors and images in social media.
Photos, self-portraits and selfies are everywhere around us and shape our perceptions of ourselves — whether we like it or not. During that 140 day I explored what self-portraiture could look like during the post-social-media era. Is it possible for us to change the way we view ourselves and the way we work with photography?
Instruction: let go of something you have relied on for your self-esteem, open up, and create new patterns.
The work consists of 140 daily self-portraits and diary entries made over five months.
Katoan katseelta, performatiivinen tutkielma minäkuvasta, ensimmäinen näytös (I Dissapear from Gaze, A Performative Study of Self-Image, Act One)
was a part of group exhibition Kaksi with my class VK22, Trio, Lahti, 2024
Katoan katseelta, as a part of group exhibition Generation 2026 at Amos Rex, Helsinki (13.5.-6.9.2026)