Eetu Huhtala – Divided Into Two Equal Parts

A bathtub that, despite best efforts, cannot be filled, a swing that is impossible to sit on and a ball game that is impossible to play. In the art of Eetu Huhtala everyday objects are stretched into the strange.  

Each of us encounters unexpected things and events. Things that change plans, mess up everyday life or change it for forever. Eetu Huhtala's sculptures explore these moments and the emotions they evoke. The artist draws on his own life experiences, but the emotions and themes he explores are familiar to us all.

"My works usually come from personal experiences or things that interest me, maybe even some kind of trauma. Then I go looking for what that experience is. Through that, the works delve into feelings that are common to all of us. They also link to social issues where these experiences are present." Huhtala explains.

The formal language and scale of the artist's large-scale metal sculptures follow the everyday object chosen as a starting point. Often, the works also incorporate movement.

"I borrow the form or functionality of everyday objects. The everyday environment is my inspiration. All my youth I have worked as a dancer with the human body. In dance we look at another human body that is familiar to us. It was a natural transition to start working with objects that are familiar and recognisable, and whose function is already understood in some way."

Eetu Huhtala

Eetu Huhtala (b. 1993 in Äänekoski) is a sculptor living and working in Helsinki. He graduated from the Helsinki Academy of Fine Arts in 2021. Huhtala received the Young Artist of the Year Award in 2023. Huhtala's works have been exhibited in Finland and abroad. His public work Another at the Dance House Helsinki was completed in 2022. His works are in the collection of the National Gallery, the Jenni and Antti Wihuri Foundation Collection at the Rovaniemi Art Museum, the Saastamoinen Foundation Collection at the EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, the Tampere Art Museum and in many private collections.