Tarja, Berndt and I

Jonne Sippola's exhibition is a comprehensive photographic work that tells the shared coming of age story of the artist and his parents during Sippola's trans process*. The images document the development, the pains and the healing experiences of the relationship over a period of sixteen years – ever since the artist was a teenager.

Sippola has brought his parents, Tarja and Berndt, into his artistic process. Among other things, he has invited them to an artist residency to work with him, and some of the photos in the exhibition are taken by his mother, Tarja. Sippola says that his parents are part of the working group that produced the exhibition. Working together has been a way to mitigate the culture of silence that prevails in the family, familiar to many Finns.

The work combines both artistic and documentary photography with archival imagery, undulating between the past and the present. This has also been a way for Sippola to process the past years and his own journey from LGBTQ youth to adulthood. In the latest joint photographs, he is accompanied by supporting parents who have received and accepted change in their lives.

Gender diversity is still a regrettably sensitive topic in many families, and many trans children and youth feel bad because of it. The story of Sippola and his parents shows how important empathy and listening are in the midst of joint growth.

In addition to the pictures, the exhibition includes a letter that guests can take with them if they wish. The exhibition has been chosen into the gallery's program through an open call, the theme of which this year is the Rebellious Body.

Jonne Sippola (b. 1991 Nummela) is a photographic artist and documentarian with a transgender background. His work deals with the topics of minority positions, sensitivity, environmental destruction and activism. In addition to photography, Sippola uses installation, ceramics and textiles as means of expression, and works in the Sippola & Saarits collective. Sippola's works have been seen in solo and group exhibitions in Finland and Europe more broadly, as well as in North America.

The exhibition has been supported by Finnfoto ry, the Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation, the Patricia Seppälä Foundation and the Center for the Promotion of Art. It has been developed in artist residency program in Mustarinda.

*A transgender person is a person whose gender does not match the gender assigned to them at birth. The term ‘trans process’ refers to a series of procedures, through which a person corrects their gender socially and/or medically. The term 'with trans background' refers to a person considering their process to be over to some extent.