Dafna Maimon

“Trust”, 2024, Pastel painting on velvet 120 x 80 cm I made this painting trying to record “organ sequencing” and “releasing my brain” into the surrounding cerebral spine fluid, approaching the brain more as a voluminous organ of flexibility and bounce, as opposed to it’s generally more nervous system connected associations. What followed was an incredible trance-like experience; eventually a very visceral sense of trust emerged. My eyes did not look, rather they/I received sight. For a moment it felt like I saw my surroundings beyond my projection and subjective reasoning. Perhaps, the most embodied feeling of trust I’ve ever experienced; to be able for a moment to receive the surrounding world as it is. I’m posting this painting now, thinking of my father who left this earth 30 years ago today. His departure forever shook my trust in life. Luckily, the one thing I’ve always been able to return to in seeking that trust back, is my creative process. The next image is of a drawing I made of him, at the age of 13, just a few days before he died. Pic 1: photo by @joeclark.photo Installation view SYMPTOMS Kiasma Museum @kiasmamuseum

“A Deep Look Inside Revealed a Bundle of Nerves”, 2025 Pastel painting on velvet 150 x 100 cm This work is about self-reflecting through the body. While I can’t turn my eye-balls inward to look inside, there are plenty of symptoms to listen to. Installation view from my recent exhibition SYMPTOMS Kiasma Museum @kiasmamuseum Photo by @joeclark.photo

”Initially a Portrait of Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618-1680)”, 2025, Pastel painting on velvet, 220 x 140cm Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia, wrote letters with René Descartes for 7 years, and tried on multiple occasions to understand his dualist theory that the body and soul are separate. He never really could explain it to her or anyone. I made this painting imagining Elisabeth’s embodied wisdom, her gut - brain, mouth and anus connection. A meditation on her whole complex bodied being. Now on view in my show SYMPTOMS, Kiasma Museum @kiasmamuseum curated by Piia Oksanen @piia.oksanen Photo by @joeclark.photo

From Interior Motives:The Musical, (2025) @kiasmatheatre . Leaning on the wounded building the mite no longer might, but the audience is now coughing in rhythm. @pauliinavesslin as tired tardigrade Dramaturgy @adkerton Tardigrade Costume Fabrication @studiooscarpeters Sound/Music @nthngy Lights: Rasmus Strandell Sound engineer @villeh00 Other Cast: @jessgadani @leaaaahkatz @sabanrmdani @annempajunen

From Interior Motives:The Musical, (2025) @kiasmatheatre . Pondering, or right out overthinking an itch on her shoulder, she finally thinks herself asleep mumbling: - ”it might be a mite, a tiny microscopic might”… There past the boundary of the real her dream becomes a dance, a beautiful ballet ensues with an extant tardigrade cavaliera. @leaaaahkatz as the itching ballerina @pauliinavesslin as the itch @jessgadani as the minstrel Dramaturgy @adkerton Tardigrade costume fabrication @studiooscarpeters Sound/Music @nthngy Lights: Rasmus Strandell Sound engineer @villeh00 Other Cast: @annempajunen

From Interior Motives: The Musical, (2025) @kiasmatheatre . After Rene Descartes discovers the audience within his own mirror image (mid-rehearsal) he shuts himself off from the world and recedes to “think” in his box of props. @sabanrmdani as Descartes Dramaturgy @adkerton Sound/Music @nthngy Lights: Rasmus Strandell Sound engineer @villeh00 Other Cast: @jessgadani @leaaaahkatz @annempajunen @pauliinavesslin

A still from one of my favorite scenes of “Homebody”, inspired by one of those daily-life moments revealing a compulsion for productivity so deep it fills every hole of one’s being. Homebody (2025) 3-Channel video installation 4K Video, Loop (loop length 45 min), 4:3 Ratio, 5.1 Surround Sound Main Cast/Singers: @jessgadani @leaaaahkatz @justintime1983 @annempajunen @sabanrmdani DOP @nadjakruegerrr Light Assistant @annikamiettinen Props @ehc2000 Sound Recording @villeh00 Set Assistant @lola.totoro Commissioned by @kiasmamuseum Supported by: @kulturfonden @avekfi @villa_skeppet @proartibus @calliesberlin Oscar Öflund Stiftelsen Copyright © Dafna Maimon 2025

Loved working with @piia.oksanen for my exhibition Symptoms at Kiasma. Here she is cure-ating “Trust” one of the pastel velvet paintings I made focusing on organ releasing and sequencing - an exercise connecting, moving, releasing and sequencing from one organ to another. Somewhere between the brain and the intestine an avalanche of trust issues/questions/desires emerged, and released onto this velvet canvas. Somehow working with others and self is exactly so much about that: trust. #symptoms #piiaoksanen @kiasmamuseum

Dafna Maimon / Symptoms

The 3-screen video installation ‘Homebody’ was commissioned by Kiasma Museum for my exhibition ‘Symptoms’ curated by Piia Oksanen @piia.oksanen . “Homebody” explores the relationship between consciousness, the human body, its environment and the home. Utilising a stream-of-consciousness singing technique, the work gives voice to the body’s wisdom and symptoms and helps uncover hidden buried truths about the self. The work presents the home as an embodied, living organism; like a body, it is inhabited by a host of outside species – both guests and strangers, invited and unannounced. The piece is set in Villa Skeppet, a private residence designed by Alvar Aalto. @villa_skeppet “Homebody” is a part of the Finnish National Gallery’s collections @kiasmamuseum Thank you forever to the wonderful cast and crew for all the deep exploring, personal voices, singing, play, and hard work that went into making this piece. Homebody, 2025 3-Channel video installation 4K Video, Loop (loop length 45 min), 4:3 Ratio, 5.1 Surround Sound Singers/Cast: Jessica Gadani @jessgadani Leah Katz @leaaaahkatz Justin Kennedy @justintime1983 Anne Pajunen @annempajunen Saban Ramadani - Mini René Descartes’ @sabanrmdani Kevin Stewart - The Neighbour @kevinis40 Jouni Pänkäläinen - The plumber Crew D.O.P Nadja Krüger @nadjakruegerrr Camera Assistant Annika Miettinen @annikamiettinen Prop Design & Fabrication Ethan Hayes-Chute @ehc2000 Sound Recording Ville Hyvönen @villeh00 Set Assistant /Clapper Lola Barraud @lola.totoro Production Assistant Meri Linna @merenlinna Costume Fabrication: Maria Zitting @maria.zitting Pauliina Vesslin @pauliinavesslin Post Production: Sound Engineer Ville Hyvönen Additional Music Nathan Gray @nthngy Assistant Editor Nadja Krüger Green Screen Effects Ethan Hayes-Chute Color Grading Hannu Käki @hannukaki Supported by: Svenska Kulturfonden @kulturfonden AVEK Kopiosto @avekfi Oscar Öflund Stiftelsen Villa Skeppet @villa_skeppet Pro Artibus Foundation @proartibus Callie’s Berlin @calliesberlin Valofirma Rental @valofirma Copyright © Dafna Maimon 2025

✨INTERIOR MOTIVES: THE MUSICAL A Performance Project by Dafna Maimon✨ 📅 16.-17.8.2025 15.00, Kiasma-teatteri 🎟️ Liput / Tickets: Esitys & työpaja / Performance & Workshop 30 / 20 € Esitys / Performance 25 / 15 € 🫧 Sukellus keho-mielen sisäisiin maailmoihin ja kollektiivisen luovuuden dynamiikkaan! Dafna Maimonin kehittämä Authentic-Stream-Of-Consciousness-Singing johdattaa surrealistisiin kohtauksiin, joissa arki ja taide sulautuvat yhteen. 🫧 Molempina esityspäivinä klo 13 on mahdollisuus osallistua AD Kertonin pitämään somaattisesti työpajaan. ❗️Vain kaksi esitystä! 👉 Lue lisää bion linkistä *** 🫧 A dive into the inner worlds of the body-mind and the dynamics of collective creativity! Developed by Dafna Maimon, Authentic-Stream-Of-Consciousness-Singing leads into surreal scenes where everyday life and artistic creation merge. 🫧 The audience has a possibility to join a somatic movement workshop by AD Kerton at 13.00 both days. ❗️Only two performances! 👉 Read more from the link in bio TYÖRYHMÄ / WORKING GROUP: Dafna Maimon, Jessica Gadani, Leah Katz, Justin Kennedy, Anne Pajunen, Saban Ramadani, Pauliina Vesslin, Rasmus Strandell, AD Kerton, Ville Hyvönen 📸: Kansallisgalleria / Pirje Mykkänen @kiasmamuseum @dafnamaimon @jessgadani @pauliinavesslin @leaaaahkatz @annempajunen @sabanrmdani @villeh00

“Breathing a Hurricane”, 2024, Pastel painting on velvet 120 x 80 cm While making this painting I tried to make “felt sense” of the connection between my lungs and the conchae cavities in my nose. The air enters the body in a spiral, effectively rendering every breath into a micro hurricane. It’s a comfort to think of inner storms as regular and necessary within my organism; I am quite ordinary. Now on view in my show SYPMTOMS Kiasma Museum @kiasmamuseum Photo by @joeclark.photo