Octomom (2023) is an installation that combines an audio story and video footage of a brooding octopus, who guarded her eggs for almost five years at the bottom of the ocean, with a portrait of a mother with her newborn. The video is projected onto fine grained sand on the floor.

Exhibitions:
Kana Kawanishi gallery, Tokyo, Japan (coming February 2025).
15th Gwangju Biennale, Finland Pavilion, South Korea, 2024.
Turku Art Museum, Turku, Finland, 2024.
Finnish Institute in Stockholm’s gallery, Stockholm, Sweden 2023.
Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland 2023.

Installation image. Octomom, Acts of Care, Finland Pavilion, 15th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea, Sept 7 – Dec 1, 2024. Courtesy of Gwangju Biennale Foundation. Photo: Studio Possible Zone.
Installation image. Octomom, Empathy Machine exhibition, The Finnish Museum of Photography, March 30 – August 27, 2023. Photograph: Angel Gil.
Installation image (detail). Octomom at the Finnish Institute in Stockholm’s gallery. Photograph: Janne Riikonen.
Installation image. Octomom at the gallery of the Finnish Institute in Stockholm. Illustration on the window by Antti Ollikainen. Photograph: Janne Riikonen.

The research of the artwork was helped by Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and Senior Scientist Bruce Robison.