“IF IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE THEN IT’S TRUE”
I am a Finnish artist (b. 1983) from Helsinki and I graduated as a Master of Arts from Aalto University - School of Arts, Design and Architecture in 2010.
In my drawings I examine the inner essence of human beings, the importance of presence as well as freedom and fears. I think about the uncontrollability of life, imagined threats and values; the way they are incomplete and skewed. In my drawings a lack of predictability represents the world.
The concept behind my artistic work is capsulated in the sentence “if it doesn’t make sense then it’s true”. Emerging through free association, my large-scale ink drawings burst with contradictory elements and exaggerated forms. Under the seemingly chaotic surface of my work lies a deep interest towards the essence of human nature.
My imagery is influenced by religious upbringing, thinking of its consequences and finally, attempts to free myself of it. With guilt and innocence as recurrent themes I often recreate religious and moral stories, leading the viewers into bizarre parallel worlds. In my drawings I’m making subtle references to for example Hieronymus Bosch who was known for his imaginative paintings combining horror and chaos. My drawings feature moral and religious aspects and stories that include people, animals, machines and combinations of all these three.
