‘My work stands between reality and the imaginary, raising questions about the individual: a being in a state of solitude in contrast to forever transient surroundings. It can be seen as a reaction to life in an urban landscape . . . a constant return to vast and open spaces, where one can find freedom, either through thought or symbolic movement and flight.’
Combining video, photographs and installation Axel Antas draws upon the expansive landscape of his native Finland for inspiration. In his video The Middle and Everything Around Antas animates ink drawings of a bleak hillside landscape, punctuated intermittently with trees. In his photographic series, The Blue Hour, Antas is attempting to capture a magical quality in nature.
Antas’ video projection Snowangels is a poetic gesture that draws upon a game which children play at winter time. We watch people making imprints of an angel, a symbol of eternity, which then slowly disappears and allows a new imprint to be made. A childlike wonder pervades this work, expressing a desire to escape the mortal and the material world.
Antas graduated with a BA from Goldsmiths in 2000 and has exhibited in Finland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and London. Solo exhibitions have included Transient at Studio Mezzo and The Acrobat at Kari Kenetti Gallery, both in Helsinki. In 2001 Antas will be showing at Kuvataide Akatemian Galleria, Helsinki and at Trinity Buoy Wharf, London. The equipment has been generously supported by Goldsmiths College.