In Saara Ekström’s film Hypnos (2024, 9:11 min) the Japanese Noh theatre masks become portals to spiritual, ritual and psychological realms embodied by a dense forest. Fundamental and existential questions arise, as the film explores the subconscious both as an inner landscape and a layer in our collective history rooted in nature and time.
Hypnos is a dream which the forest invites us to dream together. The work, shot on 16 mm film, was created from late autumn to early spring, during seasons when the forest is slowly transforming or still asleep. The masks, filmed in Japan, originate from animistic Shinto rituals and dances, in which they serve as channels between the sacred forces of nature and humankind. Through these masks we can transform, transcend our own boundaries, and gaze into the depths of the forest—and of our minds. The forests featured in the film are located on the islands of Kökar, Seili and Ruissalo: ancient yet ever-renewing landscapes where trees, plants, and organisms are born, grow, and decay.
Saara Ekström (b. 1965, Turku) is a visual artist working mainly with film, photography, text, and installation. Her recent work explores connections between geological processes, evolution, corporeality, and the subconscious. Her art approaches the great mystery of time — the cycle of birth, death, and constant transformation. Ekström has examined new materialism, deep time, and other-than-human life long before these themes entered the mainstream. Her works have been presented in extensive solo exhibitions since the 1990s, and her films, drawing from the traditions of avant-garde cinema, have been shown at numerous international film festivals.
The exhibition is part of the Dahlström Eminentia lifetime achievement award granted to Ekström in 2025 by the Turku Art Society. The award recognizes Ekström’s creativity, capacity for renewal, active international career, and the significance of her pioneering body of work. The prize of 15 000 euros is awarded every three years from the Ellen and Magnus Dahlström Fund, administered by the Åbo Akademi University Foundation.
The exhibition is supported by the Finnish Heritage Agency and the Turku Art Society. The film’s production has been supported by AVEK, Svenska Kulturfonden, and the Serlachius Museums.
