Jenna Mäkäräinen

Sinking INto my dreams

Sinking into My Dreams explores dreams as a profound source of inspiration, transforming the ephemeral nature of the subconscious into woven, tactile forms. The work merges familiar shapes of mattresses, dissolving the boundaries between rest, introspection and art. Through undulating surfaces, structured patterns, and entangled textures, the pieces capture the shifting states of the mind where thoughts drift, reality blurs and emotions intertwine. By inviting physical interaction, the works turn the intangible into something felt, creating a space to sink into the depths of dreams, held by their soft embrace.

Dreams blur the boundaries between reality and imagination. Sinking into My Dreams is Jenna Mäkäräinen’s journey into that fluid and shifting space, where stillness carries movement, softness hides unseen depths, and the edges of consciousness begin to dissolve. The MA thesis project explores emotional landscapes tied to sleep, introspection, and the subconscious—spaces where linear time unravels and thought flows freely, much like water slipping through unseen channels. Blankets and mattresses, everyday objects associated with rest, vulnerability, and care, become sculptural woven forms that invite lingering, drifting, and temporary disappearance into one’s inner world.

To flow, to drift, to submerge—these movements lead us closer to something real and unseen.

Using jacquard weaving, Mäkäräinen shaped textiles that reflect the natural flow of water: layering, folding, and gently drawing the body inward. The forms hover between functional objects and artworks, questioning where practical use ends and emotional experience begins. She aimed to create spaces where the body can surrender, and the mind can loosen its grip on logic and order through the rhythm of woven structures. These woven pieces offer a gentle threshold, a transition zone where being awake gradually fades and something deeper takes over.

Dreaming, to Mäkäräinen, is not a means of escape but a quiet homecoming—a return to everything we carry silently within. The ripples of memory, emotion, and sensation continue moving beneath the surface, even when unseen.

Dreams are not escapes; they are quiet returns to everything we carry within.

Through the woven surfaces, I wanted to create a threshold—a soft, shifting boundary where waking life slowly dissolves.