ARTWORK DESCRIPTION
The main themes of the project are the psychic instances, the connection between them, and what can be achieve if we actively connect to the unconscious and try to overcome the passive and illusory condition we perpetrate with our ’conscious’ state.
​’The Peaks’ is a figuration of the (numbed) self - a depiction of imperceptible inner consistencies and dynamics, between cowering indifference and rooted existences.
From the clear spire of the ego, implacable impulses induce an apparent descent into the abyss, a glimpse of the cosmic womb… and in the very liminal penumbra one might (re)find awareness, vital links, and finally awaken.
Circumstances that in the artist’s imagination becomes almost palpable in the symbolism of the art production.
References that bring together archetypes, the interpreted value of the colour spectrum, the intimate connection with the natural element and the poetic narrative.
The art film ’The Peaks’, through the landscapes of Ostrobothnia and their peculiar conformations, plunges us among surreal and dreamlike scenarios, where one can be absorbed and transported into the non-visible that constitutes us.
The locations of the main work (the video) is Lostenen/Ilveskivi and the surrounding forest in northern Ostrobothnia (FI), The Devil’s Nest/Pirunpesä in South Ostrobothnia (FI), and some secondary clips are filmed in the Bus del Buson, in the Belluno Dolomites Park (IT).
About the project > https://www.blackboxgenesis.com/about/valentina-gelain/the-peaks
BIOGRAPHY
Valentina Gelain (1992, Feltre) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Ostrobothnia, Finland. She graduated in Visual Arts (BA-MA) from the Brera Academy of Fine Art, in Milan. Through subjective experience and introspection, Gelain investigates issues related to human existentialism drawing directly from the mental and emotional, symbolic and dreamlike sphere.
Currently, the artist is exploring a multidisciplinary approach to research and practice, leading her to work with video, photography, performance, installation, poetry and so on. ’The Gray Hour’ and ’The Peaks’ are examples of recent projects where the body of work spans different artistic disciplines.
The art film ’The Peaks’ was premiered in January 2024 at the Ostrobothnian Museum in Vaasa, and the project ’The Gray Hour’ in its entirety was featured at the duo exhibition ’Dripping Cavities’ at Vaasa Art Gallery-Vaasa City Museums (November 2023-January 2024).
Gelain has received Grants from different state and private organizations, such as Svenska Kulturfonden, Svensk-Österbottniska Samfundet, the City of Vaasa and so on, for projects, exhibition and personal work. She was awarded the Regional Grant and the Artist Grant by Taike, in 2023 and for 2025.
Since 2018, Gelain has worked with peer Bekim Hasaj and now the artists have strengthened their collaboration as a duo. In the same year, Hasaj & Gelain founded Black Box Genesis® and ran an art space in the city of Vaasa until 2021.
Their collaboration and their research draws deeply from landscapes, the rural and natural areas, dealing with existential issues through introspection and self-awareness, exploring and trying to manifest the mental and psychological sphere.
Among many upcoming projects, the artist duo is working on the development of art in rural areas through land art, site specific art, public art and cultural events, inaugurating it with the 360 ° mural painting ’Awake’, on a barn in the fields of Övermark in 2023.
Gelain is a member of Artists’ Association MUU, and was ranked second among the top 10 Finalists in the last edition of the Exibart Prize. At the end of October 2024 she was in residence at Moskosel Creative Lab in Sweden, and in November 2024 she was invited as guest teacher to hold the drawing class at Novia University in Jakobstad.
About the artist > https://www.blackboxgenesis.com/about/valentina-gelain
CV > https://www.blackboxgenesis.com/about/valentina-gelain/curriculum-vitae
Portfolio > https://kuvataiteilijamatrikkeli.fi/taiteilija/gelain-valentina