The Time Is Passing By — Visual artist Maarit Siltamäki and musician Heikki Halonen.
Welcome to the opening ceremonies on Tuesday May 27, 2025 from 17:00 to 19:00.
On a sandy road, time slows down; on a forest path, it almost stops. Time passes me by. I pause in this memory with you; time can go on. In this moment, I belong. I belong to nature, to the wind, to the scents. I belong to the memory where you are. We smell the wind, the flowers, and the paths. Nature smells of past times on the skin.
Grandmother’s flowers smell in the wind that comes from afar. I remember the garden. I remember the birch alley. The birds that left. Or did I leave? I remember you. You were there, where I was too. In the cycle of nature. In the gardens of the world. Under the tree. Under the forest and the clear sky. I remember you. The scent of the wind.
The wind comes from the ancestor’s garden. She grew the world tree and lilies. She nurtured the power of nature. Me and you.
On the path, I am slow, looking at each flower. Time stretches, or I do. Time doesn’t matter. Moments do, and us in those moments. In the wind, everything vibrates. Moments thin out. Time passes and wears away. Time forgets me in the moment, in the memories where the ancestor’s trees grow.
The exhibition features paintings and music. Heikki Halonen’s compositions merge with Siltamäki’s paintings. Music leads deeper into the painting. The painting gives space to the music. The paintings were created while listening to Halonen’s music. In the exhibition, the music that inspired the artwork can be listened to next to the painting.
“While painting the exhibition’s works, I heard longing in Halonen’s music. Forgotten landscapes. Sandy roads. Village streets. The cycle of life and antiquity. There was history, great emotions, poetry. The music made me tell, carve feelings, stories, memories into the paint. The music immersed me in moments that are close and moments where I lingered to be able to stay.”
Siltamäki and Halonen work and live in Jyväskylä. The Time Is Passing By exhibition is the artist couple’s second joint exhibition.
Artwork above: Maarit Siltamäki, The Time Is Passing By, 100×90 cm, akryyli kankaalle, 2025
Maarit Siltamäki
Maarit Siltamäki (b. 1982) is a visual artist from Jyväskylä whose paintings are inspired by her relationship with nature, emotions, and small moments. The rough surfaces created with a palette knife to thick paint, along with the intense lines, tell stories in her works.
Life is fleeting, and small moments create memories and emotions. These small moments are transferred to paintings, surrounded by a sprawling forest and nature. Memories change and begin to tell a story in the paintings. In these stories, emotions transform into colors, and memories become light.
Maarit Siltamäki graduated as a visual artist from Satakunta University of Applied Sciences in 2011. She is a candidate member of the Finnish Painters’ Union and a member of the Jyväskylä Artists’ Association. Siltamäki’s works are in private collections as well as in the art collection of the Central Finland Health Care District. The exhibition at Gallery Aarni is Siltamäki’s eleventh solo exhibition, the second one together with Heikki Halonen. Siltamäki also tours exhibitions with the artist group Havina, which organizes annual exhibitions. Siltamäki has received several grants and actively works in the field of art.
Heikki Halonen
Heikki Halonen (b. 1984) is a musician and music pedagogue from Jyväskylä, whose compositions stem from improvisation born out of emotions and small moments. An improvised composition rarely sounds the same twice. Halonen plays various guitars, including a resonator guitar in addition to the electric guitar. Recently, Halonen has often started his compositions on the piano. In his pieces, Halonen plays the guitar and piano himself, and in many pieces, also the bass.
Halonen graduated as a musician from the Kymi Conservatory in 2008, after which he studied music pedagogy (Bachelor’s degree) and music pedagogy (Master’s degree). Halonen plays guitar in several bands. Recently, he has been actively touring with the roots music band Lady Fiery and the Voodudes and his resonator guitar.
Galleria Aarni is closed on May 29th and on June 8th.