City Gallery Wellington welcomes Finish artist Salla Tykka to New Zealand for the first time. City Gallery Wellington welcomes Finish artist Salla Tykka to New Zealand for the first time.Salla Tykka gained international attention with her short film Lasso at the 2001 Venice Biennale and her profile continues to grow. The exhibition Cave & Zoo features four short films by Tykka, including her most recent film Zoo (2006) and a trilogy of earlier films: Lasso (2000), Thriller (2001) and Cave (2003).

Tykka's striking films portray a female protagonist at a moment of awareness or discovery, usually outdoors. Part of the emotional intensity of Tykka's films comes from their moody, atmospheric soundtracks which are taken from well-known film scores.

Tykka says: "I believe people have many things in common emotionally." Viewers may indeed find that parts of these films strike emotional chords, as Tykka taps into feelings of yearning and a contradictory desire for both isolation from, and connection with, other people. In some films a sense of unfulfillment manifests itself in the desire for drastic action, particularly in Thriller, where in a climactic moment the young girl dramatically shoots a sheep dead through a window.

Cave & Zoo is initiated and toured by City Gallery Wellington. It will also be shown at Dunedin Public Art Gallery from 19 May until 15 July 2007. Through May Salla Tykka will visit New Zealand with her family and present talks about her practice in Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin.

When: 12 May - 29 July 2007
Where: City Gallery Wellington, Civic Square, Wellington
Admission: FREE