Spaniels by Jukka Siikala
Everything was cold and repulsive.
On his way to the fast-food stand, for no particular reason, the word “death” appeared in his mind, as if alcohol had loosened it from its tethers. He waited at the end of the queue, looking at people standing in front of him, thinking about where on their body he would like to shoot them. Two women turned towards him and one asked for a light. He offered his lighter. Trembling with cold, they discussed their evening. He mentioned living in the next city block. He had booze. The women said they were interested.
English translation by Jarno Alander
Adaptation by Steve Finbow
Spaniels
Release date 4 March 2022
Softbound,
72 pages, 135x 205mm
Finnish artist Jukka Siikala has displayed his work in various countries including the United States, Japan, Russia, Belgium and the United Kingdom. His published works to date include the visual pieces Oksu and Human Porridge, as well as the acclaimed art and photo books Anti-social Realism (w/ Mikko Aspa & Pasi Markkula), Roman Shower, and Rubber & Blood (Bizarre Uproar), documenting a prurient interest in pornography, noise-culture and trashy live performance.
Siikala began his career in the early ‘90s, producing a series of zines filled with an aggressive mix of chaotic collages and drawings, before becoming involved in the second wave of black metal designing album artwork and participating in increasingly depraved shows, leading to his creation of the performance piece My Body Is A Slimy Drug. By the early 2000s, and having relocated for a time to Latvia, he had conceived his first porn-related paintings, a burgeoning relationship with X-rated internet imagery which flourished in the pixelated madness of Human Porridge. Since 2015, Siikala has also worked on video art, photography, and the Narrative Closure project with Grunt. At present, he’s busy making a dreamy fetishistic film, continues to paint, practices and teaches goyu-ruy karate, and runs an exclusive exploitation/horror movie club in Helsinki, where he is currently based.
siikala.com