iida jonsson and ssi saarinen
Visual Arts Residency

iida jonsson and ssi saarinen are a Finnish artist duo, working with film and photography. They hold MFAs from the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam and the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm. Past exhibitions include Berlin Art Week Featured at Reethaus, Berlin; KIN Museum of Contemporary Art, Kiruna; Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen; and Kunstverein, Amsterdam. They recently participated in the Helsinki International Artist Programme. During their stay at Pioneer Works, they aim to deepen their research into identity, visibility, and belonging by engaging with the writings of Jennie June, whose autobiographies have long remained at the margins of both literary and queer canons. June’s often overlooked texts are among the earliest published writings by a trans non-binary author.

This residency is organized in collaboration with the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York.