The exhibition Our Hearts Can Break Too presents observations on the hatred faced by sex workers in Finland. The artist acts as both the face and the narrator in a composition that juxtaposes anonymous online commentators with sex workers going about their daily work.
In February 2021, Me Naiset magazine published an interview with Iiris Elena Rusi in its ‘Toisintekijä’ series, which focused on her as a sex worker and visual artist. The interview has since been shared on various social media platforms and discussion forums. The comments sections have been flooded with posts commenting on, amongst other things, her appearance, desirability and moral conduct. After the article was published, Rusi, who had stopped to write a message in Asematunneli, was approached by a young man who, as Rusi looked up, shouted “Pay your taxes, whore!” and walked away smiling. Comments posted online do not arise and exist in a vacuum; they reflect the social climate of society.
The private buying and selling of sex is not illegal in Finland, but Finnish law does not recognise the terms ‘sex work’, ‘sex worker’ or ‘sex for payment’. In addition to these legal ambiguities, sex work continues to carry a strong stigma in 2026, regardless of who engages in it or for what reasons.
The group of sex workers is a diverse one and does not, by definition, follow a specific pattern or represent a particular type of person. Our Hearts Can Break Too focuses on people of different ages in Finland who engage in sex work voluntarily and independently. For the exhibition, Rusi conducted face-to-face interviews with sex workers whose services may include, for example, sexual intercourse, oral sex, sexual stimulation by hand or with aids, or other forms of physical sexual contact. All interviewees have participated in the project anonymously and under pseudonyms, so that not even Rusi knows their true identities.
Iiris Elena Rusi (b. 1991) is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in Helsinki whose work explores issues relating to morality, sexuality and the various power structures between society and individuals. By drawing on her own experiences and placing herself on display for the viewer, Rusi comments on social issues that are meaningful to her. Whether the final work takes the form of an installation, a video or a photograph, all of her works are performances that are thoroughly and painfully honest.
The exhibition is part of the gallery’s 2025-26 program called Textures of Security, which has been curated through an open call by the museum’s curatorial team and invited curator Farbod Fakharzadeh, and supported by the Finnish Heritage Agency.
The Finnish Museum of Photography
Basement floor
The Cable Factory, Kaapeliaukio 3, Helsinki
