About Me.
I had never heard of OK glacier in Iceland, until I was told of its funeral. The centuries old, powerfully, constantly moving body of dense ice had been defeated by the sun. What was left was scraps of ice and a trickle of water. But why should I care? What difference does it make, if a glacier melts in Iceland? I have never even been to Iceland. Maybe it was something from my roots that was reaching out. Deep calling out from deep. In my childhood in Finland winter was an integral part of life with freezing temperatures and little daylight. I know what it feels like to live in the depth of darkness when white snow and ice offer a relief of brightness. And fun. But the ice is melting. The water levels rise all over the world. Islands and coastal areas are in danger of being flooded and eventually submerged.
Something is disappearing, just like a person suffering from dementia. A person’s identity melting away until it is there no more. As an artist I cannot but respond to this.
Materiality and form fascinate me with the variety they bring into visual expression. I want to feel the roughness of the earth and the smoothness of the ice. The colours of the forest and the coolness of the ice over the sea. The cracks in the ice when it becomes too thin. The floating pieces disappearing into the horizon. The floating memories forever forgotten.
In all my work I seek to find sustainable alternatives to standard canvas or wood, such as upcycled or found pieces of wood and paper. The discarded pieces found in the studio and wood workshop gain new life, new momentum and new influence. Recently the work has moved from pieces of MDF to torn newspapers, replacing defined form with accidental tears, heaviness with lightness. Words start to form in the middle of chaos. Underlying emotions take shape. The paper may be light but the message bears heavy importance. Yet the palette remains light. To me that signifies that there is always hope.
Something is disappearing, just like a person suffering from dementia. A person’s identity melting away until it is there no more. As an artist I cannot but respond to this.
Materiality and form fascinate me with the variety they bring into visual expression. I want to feel the roughness of the earth and the smoothness of the ice. The colours of the forest and the coolness of the ice over the sea. The cracks in the ice when it becomes too thin. The floating pieces disappearing into the horizon. The floating memories forever forgotten.
In all my work I seek to find sustainable alternatives to standard canvas or wood, such as upcycled or found pieces of wood and paper. The discarded pieces found in the studio and wood workshop gain new life, new momentum and new influence. Recently the work has moved from pieces of MDF to torn newspapers, replacing defined form with accidental tears, heaviness with lightness. Words start to form in the middle of chaos. Underlying emotions take shape. The paper may be light but the message bears heavy importance. Yet the palette remains light. To me that signifies that there is always hope.
|
EDUCATION
2021-23 Royal College of Art, London MA Painting 2016-19 Art Academy, London Diploma in Fine Art (1st) 2015-16 The Institute, London Art Foundation (Distinction) |
EXHIBITIONS 2025 Past, Present, Future, The Art Academy 2023 RCA MA Painting Degree Show, Truman Brewery 2022 Terra, London 2022 RAW, Soho Revue, London 2022 RCA Work-in-Progress 2019 Leo Gallery, Open Studio, Shanghai 2019 Pure Arts 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Battle 2019 Grad Show goes South, Haywards Heath 2019 Diploma Grad Show, Newington Gallery, London 2019 Dissolute Geometrix, London 2016 Foundation Grad Show, London |
|
AWARDS
2019 Residency Award, Leo Gallery, Shanghai 2019 Pure Art Prize 2019 Liberty Art Award |
