Inari Sandell | Gravity Blanket | 6.–29.8.2021

Gravity Blanket considers neurodivergent perception, touch, resilience and our culture of coping. In its literal meaning, a gravity blanket is a weighted blanket, a wellness product commonly used for anxiety and sleeping issues. It was originally developed as an aid for neuropsychiatric care.

The installation consists of blanket-like textile sculptures, scanned images and small plaster objects. Touch, pressure and sensing different textures are essential methods of calming and grounding. In the gallery space, a blanket might feel heavy, light, or sharp to the touch.

These works draw from my neurodivergent experience. Like many others on the autism spectrum, I sense my surroundings intensely. Sensory information comes to me unfiltered and uncategorized, often overwhelming me. Sometimes perception is pain: the lights are too loud, sounds vibrate in red. Only in pressure can I feel where my surroundings end and where I begin.

Philosopher and artist Erin Manning sees potential in autistic perception. As opposed to the neurotypical way of parsing experience into predetermined categories, autistic perception allows for a way of making sense of the world as processes and ecologies, rather than clearly defined objects. This way, each detail is as important as the whole.

_____

Inari Sandell (b. 1991) is a Helsinki-based visual artist. Gravity Blanket is the second part of their Master of Fine Arts thesis for Uniarts Helsinki. The first part was shown at Kuvan Kevät 2021 group show in Helsinki. Sandell has previously studied photography at Arts Academy at Turku University of Applied Sciences and media science at the University of Turku.