Priska’s project is a 4-minute video piece focusing on its auditory message sharing detailed pressing feelings of the aftermath of the pandemic and the recent Russian attack and finding a way to find a peace of mind amidst worldwide madness.

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Project Statement:

The recent dumbfounding events of the Russian attack on Ukraine, clicked a switch for Priska that allowed her to acknowledge the bewildering feelings that had been tightly locked up silently echoing in the pit of her soul. Unprocessed feelings of isolation, hurt, and fury had been built up in the recent few years of living through an unimaginable period of our earth’s history. To an extent, our generation has not experienced these circumstances that were brought on by the pandemic. Despite living through an unconceivable time of the pandemic, the Russian attacks seem like a newfound form of human hatred, that has seemingly remained under wraps on a global scale for decades. Recovering and processing all the events as a bystander, but also as a person in separation experiencing anxiety, is taxing for us as a generation, and is bound to have consequences. Priska attempts to transmit her personal thoughts by using her voice as the focal instrument, hoping to relate to the audience listening and accompanying thoughtful, affecting video footage to evoke a sense of compassion for people going through this period of time alone albeit united together in this time. The work articulates how humans despite horrifying events have to, or are expected to, adjust, block out uncomfortable ideas, and carry out everyday tasks, almost like nothing has changed. Priska wishes to evoke a sense of shared relief as we are not alone in our burdening thoughts and that rediscovering the small joys in life will bring a sense of peace of mind in the middle of what feels like insanity. She wants to challenge the audience to ponder what those small moments of joy are and what moments in life can temporarily help block out unpleasant scenarios. Running our life on a compulsory autopilot sadly deprives our joy and mental health. Somehow, we need to find a way to function and feel in control of our own outcomes. We need to bring back joy and eventually a sense of peace and purpose.

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Artist Statement:

Priska Koivula is a New York based interdisciplinary artist hailing from Finland that mixes video, collages, animation, photography and sound to have a medium to share her thoughts and experiences of being an immigrant in the United States. Her work dives deep into her everyday life, expressing her appreciation for the splendor of nature and gratitude for family. Ultimately, her work sheds light to how perplexing it can be to focus on developing yourself when the world is in shambles. However, our generation is expected to simply roll with the punches. Her goal in her work is to create art that brings to surface previously overlooked emotions and provides a sense of unity by establishing a common ground from overcoming challenging times together.