Self-Portraits 2016-2026
This long-term body of self-portraits began in 2016, following a psychotic episode that fundamentally altered my perception of reality. What started as an attempt to reorient myself after this rupture gradually developed into a sustained body of work — a way to engage with inner conflict not as a singular event, but as an ongoing condition.
Over time, the work has expanded to reflect the different forms this tension has taken, including exposure to violence, heightened sensitivity and existential instability. Rather than unfolding as linear narratives, the images emerge from specific moments of necessity, surfacing through the body, gesture and atmosphere.
Self-portraiture functions here as a site of confrontation rather than representation. The body becomes a terrain where vulnerability and force, intimacy and threat, control and loss of control coexist. The images are constructed intuitively in the moment, using coloured gels, flash, long exposures and other in-camera effects to translate inner tension into physical presence.
Over the years, philosophy and esoteric symbolism entered the work as frameworks for approaching what remains unresolved. Rather than offering explanations, they shape the conditions under which the images are made, allowing the work to remain open, ambiguous and ritualistic.
Find out more:
Website: sarisoininen.com/
Instagram: @sari_soininen