Lyy Raitala: Nesting

In the Foyer Gallery of Photo North, Lyy Raitala explores the coexistence of humans and animals in the built environment through staged photography in her exhibition Nesting. The work examines the interspecies rituals of nesting and settling – their differences, similarities and layers. Nesting appears as a survival strategy but also as an intimate gesture that unites humans and animals – as a need to protect themselves, to find a rhythm and a place to be. The work moves between control and surrender, care and instinct, structure and chance, pondering who really builds and for whom.

Lyy Raitala (b. 1999) is a visual artist originally from Oulu who lives in the Netherlands. She works with photography, collage, video and spatial installations. In her works, Raitala constructs reality through staged situations, everyday materials and spatial interventions. Her work is guided by questions of care, control and memory, as well as how objects, buildings and spaces serve as silent witnesses to people’s lives. Raitala is particularly interested in how small details, such as worn surfaces, textiles, stains and everyday objects, carry intergenerational memories and create a sense of home, closeness, and belonging. The spatial experience is at the heart of Raitala’s works. In them, space is not merely a backdrop but an active force that reveals the choreographies of work, care and everyday life, as well as the human endeavour to organise one’s surroundings. Raitala earned a bachelor’s degree in photography from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague in 2024. https://lyyraitala.com

Lyy Raitala
Nesting
5.9.-20.12.2026
Photo North, Foyer gallery

Free entrance