New geological epoch, permanent changes of the planet Earth, mass extinction of species of plants and animals. Anthropocene. Environmental global issues have become the main theme of the Finnish artist Anssi Uusnäkki's "What Stays Behind" series. In his works he reflects the relationship between man and nature.

 The author has worked with painting, sculpture and installation.
 Material for the realization of the iron sculptures Uusnäkki acquired by recycling equipment from the previous pig farm which the author has transformed into an atelier. For wooden objects /phallic totems/ Uusnäkki used the basic Finnish natural resource - wood and cut down alder, birch and poplar in the forest. The confrontation of wood and iron shows the vain effort to preserve nature in its original state. The iron chains firmly clench the trunks of the birch and poplar trees, the white trunks of trees are strangled by chains cut into the bark as the rope. The alder tree has a triumphal tower of industrial industry on its peak. Nature in confrontation with a man. Man as the greatest enemy of nature. Totems the defensive spirits of nature and moderation in the center of Helsinki. Totems worship our common ancestor - Mother Nature. Installation is a place to relax, think and meditate.

The pipes that had distributed the heat in the pig farm were transformed into "ammunition belts" with the unuttered question "Who will survive?" The only survivors are watching, two iron beetles, slowly but surely clinging to each other. A red bull (reminding Miró's paintings) invites passers-by to fight. Fearless girl, where are you?

The exhibition continues in the Embassy Gallery - in this part Uusnäkki lets the Nature win – he portrays it as wild, untouchable, insurmountable but to the beings moving on its territory kindly and welcoming. Oil on canvas technique, layers of pasty colors applied by a knife, gestures, expression, monumentality - all this exacerbates the impression of freedom, invincibility and the power of the Nature.

Installation in the Eira Park aims to present the contemporary art outside the gallery. Interventions into the public space can interfere with our own inner space.

Barbora Kachlíková/Curator

Anssi Uusnäkki - invitation