SKIN TO SKIN
Sanne Sihm and Marje Taska
16 - 25 May 2025
Plat-Pelles Kulturhus (Stora Nygatan 1, Sigtuna)
Opening: Friday, 16 May at 16:00-19:00
Guided tour: Saturday, 17 May at 12:00
Other opening hours:
Weekdays 16:00-19:00
Weekends 12:00-16:00
Welcome to an exhibition featuring two artists who both work with the material of leather/skin.
Skin is the membrane that encloses a body, a living being
In the skin's tracks are the traces of time, the hand’s work, beauty and fragility
Signs from the past are etched in the twists of the skin
Memory of an imprint in the universe — The emergence of life
Sanne Sihm was born in the USA to Danish parents and grew up in Malmfälten, Kiruna. Today, she works in the areas around Uppsala, where she is, among other things, a member of the artist group RackarArt. In her artistic work, Sihm explores different materials depending on what she wants to express, with materials that can move from things as simple as clay, rope, or moss. She has, however, increasingly found herself drawn to leather. Leather, as both material and concept, Sihm sees as an ancient tool in sculptural work.
In Sihm’s works, the natural reactions of leather to aging and the passage of time are highlighted, extending both forward and backward in time. The material’s unyielding forms, which both decay and grow, evoke a sense of something primal. Sihm’s artistry prominently and thoughtfully stages the meeting between the dreamlike and the corporeal.
Marje Taska is a versatile artist in installations, painting, graphic art and leatherworks. She is currently based in Stockholm but was born and raised in Estonia. She has a strong connection to the artistic leather art through her grandfather Eduard Taska, who was a pioneer in it and founded the Faculty of Leather Artistry at the University of Arts in Tallinn in the early 20th century.
Marje Taskas works in solo as well as in group exhibitions have brought her acclaim in art halls, galleries and museums, including Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn; ETDM, Tallinn; Malmö konsthall; Lunds konsthall; Röhsska Museum, Göteborg, Konstens Hus, Luleå; Liljevalchs konsthall, Stockholm; Grand Palais (FIAC, Figuration Critique and La Biennale des Femmes), Paris, etc.
Marje Taskas leather art shows a geometric minimalist symbolism and expresses Taska’s interest in and her associations with the intellectual and spiritual world.
In this exhibition Taska exposes leather objects, as well as paintings and prints. The objects are made from vegetable-tanned leather and suede. The material has been processed with leather knives and modeling pens, and dyed with acrylic and tempera.
Now, in 2025, Taska has left geometry behind and is more interested in what lies beneath the skin, the subcutaneous world, our subconscious.