René Block (DE):
The works of all ten artists nominated by the award committee are remarkably high quality, and each candidate could equally well be awarded. This made the final decision difficult. Given the task of selecting only one artist, I have, after careful consideration, decided to name Maaria Wirkkala as the recipient of the Ars Fennica award for 1991.
What impressed me most about Maaria Wirkkala’s art is her ability to work in and with ‘ready-made situations’. Just by adding a few everyday objects or, for instance, light to a ‘normal’ urban or environmental situation — such as a small pond, a frozen sea, a construction site, or an old basement — Maaria Wirkkala transforms, for a certain period of time, places into images and images into spaces. Spaces of thoughts, memories and dreams. Maaria Wirkkala’s art is rooted in a deep knowledge of Finnish culture and tradition. Her work reflects her consciousness of space and time. It opens up possibilities for fruitful dialogues with artists from other countries. In my opinion, Maaria Wirkkala’s beautiful and delicate installations align well with the spirit and purpose of the Ars Fennica award.
René Block (DE), Curator, Gallerist, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, DAAD (1991)