As a matter of fact I have always thought that I don't want to explain my paintings a lot, as the viewer's interpretations are the person's own matter. But now I still started to write about my works and that's why I want to emphasize that art is a different thing from writing or talking about it (or examining it).
We think that our mind is free, but as a matter in fact we are brainwashed. The collective programming that our culture is using has already started in the cradle, and it has been strengthened in kindergarten, school and at work, and it assures us that we are normal and others are weird.
"Culture is the collective programming of mind that separates one human group from another."
The previous quotes were from well-known culture researcher G. Hofstede and they have had a big influence on my painting process, as have other theoretical research traditions from the university as well. The similarities and dissimilarities of processes between art and science have always fascinated me. According to my experiences in the process of making art or science the same kind of peace can be reached. That shuts away the rest of world. Science can enrich art in a way unheard of, if you can be open and analyze the results of science via making art.
Roughly speaking, when working methods that are characteristic for art and science are made use of, different cerebral hemispheres are in use. But this issue certainly isn't this simple, because a large amount of creativity is needed in the making of science and painting needs enormous discipline and method, for example. I do assume that the biggest difference in the process is that when I'm painting, I can reach to kind of strong state of concentration which isn't possible in any other way of working in my experience. That's probably when it's possible to reach the subconscious and its effects better than in scientific writing, for example.
To return to Hofstede, I may be examining the effect of culture and genotype to a human's appearance to others, because I have never really felt that I belong anywhere. I have been an outsider everywhere and still "a bit" taking part in everything. I started my hectic painting process in my atelier in Rauma, which is my very first own atelier, thanks to my darling Anton, with a familiar subject. My Anguish of creation (85*129) painting has the hand of the same statue that I already used in my Pilvivuori triptych in 1999, a work that I made to picture my own process in my professional development studies in the university of Jyväskylä. A long report has been written about the triptych in my dissertation.
In the "Anguish of creation" a hand of stone is hitting through a surge of lilac flowers so that some of the flowers are flying out of their "bubble". The bubble appears in the other paintings as well and it pictures the light, where we all are in my opinion eventually wandering, because we are all made of stars. In my opinion we are here to develop and take the advantage of the gifts and resources that we have received, as completely as possible, and also increasing them. Yes, I have at least a drop of perfectionist in me. And it's one of the strengths of the artists that you cannot replace with creative madness. But there's a use for that as well...
All my paintings have a background, nature that is ornamental, complicated and as free as nature itself. The statue representing the human or culture is outlined more accurately and is more detailed.
My son Aleksi recalled and reflected on the anecdote that "we are all made of stars" because:
This thinking has in its own part influenced the naming my collection as the often used anecdote "We are all made of stars". It's nicely ambiguous just as my paintings, which each viewer can influence with their own interpretations.
Pallas Athene reclining (105*135) is a painting where the goddess of art has set to rest on a finnish meadow. In this also the statue represents the culture that we all have had all the way from the ages of classical antiquity. But again, there's also the meadow...
Bindweed is an amazing plant. It grows from infinitesimally small chinks with almost no water at all and blooms, just like the young male with his muscular back in the painting Bindweed (97*125). So bindweed wreathes the statue of young male with its own flowers. The painting epitomizes persistence in two levels.
Seeds of Human Creation (81*104) is a depiction of autumn. Nevertheless, it holds all the sprouts of existence in the same way as chaos does - an idea put forward by various researchers of human creativity. Here, culture is a young girl among apples, the produce of autumn that conceals a new beginning.
Winged (81*125) is struggling tirelessly towards the light with the wings on head. Winged is a self image. It's autumn, but the rowanberries are deep red and the destination is clear in the mind of the winged.
Navel of the World (80*85) is picturing a narcissistic human being and thus the creation of today's culture in the purest of ways. On the other hand, healthy narcissism doesn't probably include much that is bad.
The Hidden Heel of Achilles (80*94) is also an image of self, such as all my paintings in a way, because I also have a heel of Achilles of my own that I try to hide the best that I can and which has thus influenced my process of creation in a decisive way.
Silence out of Reach (90*110) tells about the immense longing of human being for something that never comes true, the "rag" that each one is carrying.
Markku Graae is a researcher whose thoughts have had a lot of influence to my own thinking, also as an artist. His ideas about personality and its development are very interesting. I'm interpreting him quite freely in my text in finnish, but I dare not translate his ideas in English. I leave it to more skilful translators to do. Also Jaana Venkula is a finnish researcher who has inspired many of the thoughts in my paintings. Venkula has the system of "five e:s" (epistemic, emotional, ethic, aesthetic and empirical), as she's describing the mental system of a human being. Also her ideas are overly challenging for me to translate in English although I have referred to her system in my finnish text.
Jorma Heikkilä is a finnish researcher of creativity and he has said that creativity is integrating the inner self of an individual to the reality of external world and thus finding a new approach to things. His ideas have been very useful to me in teaching.
All the paintings appear to have elements of self portraits to me.
Rhapsody (94*140) tells about the lightness of life for a woman, when she has a caring man beside her who has faith in her and supports her. In here I'm of course referring to my dear man that walks beside me and whose love has strengthened me.
Woman's Way (94*140) reminds me of Silence out of Reach. Both are about longing for something that is impossible to reach, but is the unattainable thing wanted anymore if it is reached...
The Extent of Humanity (115*90) is telling precisely about what the title describes. A human supports another and grips to the person, but a belt around the waist has a sword hanging there.
Song of Songs (120*90) is strongly autobiographical. It tells about me finding God more easily as I'm admiring the diversity of nature, rather than in a church built by a human. The high hymn is heard in smaller things amidst the vast nature.
Carpe Diem (94*130) pictures the human casting herself into things that she faces and taking them as opportunities. Can the person make use of these and learn from them? This picture got more profound meanings than it was maybe originally meant to, when Hannu Myllymäki, my former colleague who I greatly valued died suddenly at the age of 39. We had co-operated in an international project called Carpe Diem among others. It concerned sustainable development, which I have familiarized myself with in a multi-faceted way with students in my teaching days. Sustainable development will in all likelihood continue to be one of the most important things that influence my paintings. The passing away of Hannu has also left an eternal imprint on me.
An Invitation (96*110) also deals with taking opportunities in the moment such as Carpe Diem, but from slightly different point of view. Taking these could also have negative consequences. There are many kinds of temptations!
Commitment (90*115) tells about the power of commitment, both in good and evil. Should one be tempted to seize the moment by the wrong motives, the consequences can have an imprint that lasts for years. There's also another kind of commitment which results in satisfaction. I've experienced both.
Curtain up (94*110) continues my ponderings about sustainable development. The curtain is now up and the sustainable development has finally found its way to the limelight. When I was starting with sustainable development it was yet too often considered as the hobby of "ecomentalists" etc.
My every Prayer (95*140) is very personal. Quite a many quiet prayers I have sent to the heights especially as a mother and an eternally worrying kind of a person. An angel can represent them all, even though an angel doesn't look like the one in the picture, not that I know of. The imagery in the statue is the result of the aforementioned cultural conditioning.
Immersed (96*110) - life can be as light as a feather when one can immerse oneself in something and forget...
The Inner Self Image (96*140) was formed as my own picture during the work - not because of something that the statue represents, but its withdrawn face has something that I have inside me. Be what it may, an enigma right now just like it was in the days of my studies, as we were asked to make a self image. I realized this as an abstraction.
A Flaming Spirit (110*94) is hopefully a gate to something new and remarkable...
Capsella Vuolá-Falk