Dafna Maimon: Symptoms

Dafna Maimon’s exhibition at Kiasma opens up the human body—its organs, symptoms, and subconscious—to sprawl across the space in surreal, immersive forms.

Visitors move through a velvet-lined intestinal tunnel and a cavernous wisdom tooth to encounter pastel paintings of internal landscapes, an oversized tardigrade (a microscopic survivor), and the ghostly figure of René Descartes, whose mind-body split is playfully challenged in Homebody, Maimon’s musical installation.

The exhibition features video works, sculptures, velvet paintings, and drawings. Three films follow fictional characters navigating contemporary life, their bodies expressing symptoms seen not as ailments but as messages—offering insight, and perhaps tools, for a more meaningful existence.