
2014|| Exhibition view at The Hole Gallery|| Exhibition photography by Megan Cullen.

Detail of the work||
Exhibition photography by Megan Cullen.

Exhibition view at The Hole Gallery||
Exhibition photography by Megan Cullen.

KING |
Copper, Brass, steel, wood structure|
23 x 19 x 19 cm||
Photography by Paavo Lehtonen.

KNIGHT |
Marble, ash wood|
30 x 19 x 19 cm||
Photography by Paavo Lehtonen.

PAWN |
Concrete|
25 x 12 x 12 cm||
Photography by Paavo Lehtonen.

QUEEN |
Porcelain, glaze, white gold luster|
24 x 19 x 19 cm||
Photography by Paavo Lehtonen.

ROOK |
Steel, leather |
26 x 12 x 12 cm||
Photography by Paavo Lehtonen.

BISHOP |
Glass, gold sprayed rose|
38 x 14 x 14 cm||
Photography by Paavo Lehtonen.
Checkmate is part of Dislocation, a collaborative project together with an illustrator Jesse Auersalo and a photographer Nina Merikallio. It brings together sculpture and two-dimensional prints using traditional methods to produce avant-garde works on the borderland of art and design. The exhibited pieces in Checkmate fall into two categories of adult playthings: chess equipment and sex toys. Chess is essentially a game of strategy and intelligence while sex is instinctual. Checkmate explores the mutual connections and associations between the two games in relation to each other. What constitutes as a game? Can games be played without rules? How do the categories of form and function apply to playthings? Utterly unusable, displayed as unfinished game of chess in the gallery space, the Checkmate chess pieces consist of six sculptures reminiscent of dildos and butt plugs handcrafted in sophisticated materials. A numbered edition of photographic prints accompanies the sculptures. Taken by photographer Paavo Lehtonen, they embody the King, the Queen, the Rook, the Knight, the Bishop, and the Pawn.
The exhibition Dislocation explores different interpretations of the body ranging from over proportionate sex toys to platonic nudes. The exhibited pieces work on intellectual and primitive levels verging on the orgasmic. Introducing new ways of seeing the corporeal experience they question everyday design and fashion photography.
Checkmate sculptures and photographs were exhibited at The Hole Gallery, New York in 2014. Knight, from Checkmate series, has been exhibited at group exhibitions “A Cave for Play“ at Leikkiluola in 2018 and “How to Slow Rush” at Titanik Gallery, Turku in 2019.