Maria Ylikoski’s (b. 1966) new videowork Det smakar lite konstigt (It tastes a bit strange) is a little story about a return. A Finnish family that has been living in The Netherlands has moved back to Finland and is pondering its decision. The holiday Finland of summertime and the everyday Finland of full-time work are not quite the same thing.

In this work Ylikoski deals with the making of choices. What kinds of choices do we make and on what dreams and fantasies do we base our choices? What are our life values, and are we satisfied with them? Do we want a life of adventure or security, a career or children? At some stage, decisions have to be made. Or do they? The work shows an Espoo family, but, at the same time, it is also a kind of self-portrait of the artist. “The family members go through the same things that I myself have thought about as I enter middle-age – yearning for lost youth and dreaming of change,” Ylikoski says.