Ijár

A softly rounded surface of reindeer skin merges with black seal fur. From a distance, the mottled surface of the reindeer skin looks like polished stone, while the fur resembles a sucking cavity. This optical illusion creates an uncertain sense of reality, with impressions shifting between hard and soft, and between a lifeless object and living body. For those unfamiliar with the Sámi language, it is easy to assume that the title, Ijár, is a Sámi word, but it is in fact a word invented by Rose-Marie Huuva herself. There is, however, a kinship with the word idja, which means “night sky”. This astronomical association creates the impression of light phenomena appearing in the reindeer skin, representing the merging of the microcosm with the macrocosm.