The title ‘Original Joy’ (a wordplay on the Christian concept of Original Sin), refers to Kiuru’s rediscovery of playful experimentation and intuitive, fearless freedom in creative work. The catalyst for this invigoration of personal practice was returning after 40 years to her childhood landscape in Lappeenranta, Finland, where she was immersed in the natural environments of her early years and the Southern Karelian community.

The works in Original Joy, Kiuru’s first solo exhibition in Australia, stem from Kiuru’s seasonal memories, as felt through this deepened understanding of her ancestral heritage and her own nature as an artist. Comprising objects, jewellery, and some unexpected forms such as instruments and a kinetic structure, they joyfully trace a year from early spring to midwinter, through a sensorial channelling of colours, sounds and feelings.

Kiuru employs non-precious elements in surprising ways, and in creating this body of work felt an irresistible calling to use processes allowing for a direct communication between skin and material. Imbued with a profound connection to the natural world, the works arise from a place before words, invoking the senses, and are emblems of Kiuru’s reconciliation of her Finnish and Australian identities.