Skanno
01. SkannoXAcerbis – Pop-Up exhibition, Skanno Showroom, Helsinki 2024
Knot
01. “ I’m undoing a knot. Taking my painting apart. Surface, lines, areas, finally simply colours. I proceed in small intervals, layer by layer, and thinly, a mark is created. I don't plan. I destroy many works, some I start from scratch. A longing for clarity. The colour palette of legos seems sincere. The end result is landscapes, some kind of deformations on a horizon. “
02. Knot – the exhibition White Wall, Lokal Gallery, Helsinki 2024
potography (c) Katja Hagelstam, LokalOte / Grip
Ote / Grip is an ongoing project where I explore artistic expression in relation to my background in design and poster art. I am intrigued by the point at which associations form and how we read an image in the moment. It's where the familiar and the unknown lightly brush against each other, capturing the interface of the ephemeral and the timeless.
“
When speaking of graphic design as a language, the emphasis is on interpersonal interaction, seeking the principles related to readability, interpretation, rhetoric, and dramaturgy.
Graphic design as communication involves the development of stylistic and expressive forms to correspond to the images that emerge within human communities over time. How to give shape to things that are only just shifting tectonic plates, anticipating future times
– Tapio Vapaasalo, Emeritus Professor, Aalto University (FI)
Graphic design as communication involves the development of stylistic and expressive forms to correspond to the images that emerge within human communities over time. How to give shape to things that are only just shifting tectonic plates, anticipating future times
– Tapio Vapaasalo, Emeritus Professor, Aalto University (FI)
Horse Eye
01. “Horse Eye is a portrayal of aging in some kind. I view time as coincidental and overlapping, rather than a clear linear path—perhaps this perspective is reflected in my artwork.
Initially, there was an intention to paint something else, but my interest in charcoal took over. I became captivated by the lines it creates. It just happened. I painted through drawing; after all, I am a drawer.
These lines might serve as the foundation and structure for my future artworks. The eye. The foot. The wings. Also included: skull, horse, hipbone, flowers, hourglass sand, and a pelican out of nowhere. Things happen, happen, happen until they don't happen anymore.”
02. Exhibited at Bud Helsinki September 2023
Initially, there was an intention to paint something else, but my interest in charcoal took over. I became captivated by the lines it creates. It just happened. I painted through drawing; after all, I am a drawer.
These lines might serve as the foundation and structure for my future artworks. The eye. The foot. The wings. Also included: skull, horse, hipbone, flowers, hourglass sand, and a pelican out of nowhere. Things happen, happen, happen until they don't happen anymore.”
02. Exhibited at Bud Helsinki September 2023
ArtVerona ‘23
/VFA
01. Aino 2000 is a modern interpretation that delves into the mystical essence of the Finnish folk epic Kalevala. The character of Aino combats challenges by transforming and adapting to the fluidity of water.
02. ArtVerona – The piece was specificly made for Villa Filanda Antonini’s exhibition booth at ArtVerona 2023, where it was on display with two other artist-in-residences : Matteo Valerio (IT) and Alessandro Calabrese (IT). More about VFA ArtVerona project
Work in progress / Villa Filanda Antonini(IT), 09/2023
Blush
01. Linda Linko’s series Blush ensemble of paintings and drawings has followed her for many years, waiting for the right moment to be presented. She wanted the series to be formed with a free rein, on its own terms. After the birth of her son, she started painting again; carefully, in small, with watercolours – and of him, of course. She describes that the faces soon turned into self-portraits, and thus, over time, into one or another. In looking for the size and technique, Linko did not want to become too fixated on one thing. To her, it is not who the piece portrays that is relevant, but rather, how it's portrayed – the level from which we look at each other.
“The characters in my works do not owe me anything. Showing empathy and sensitivity without stepping into a trap is difficult, and maybe that's why it's so interesting. Every piece has its own identity, and I am just a middleman; an interpreter, a giver of form. However, just as they owe me nothing, I also don’t own them. As a viewer you get to choose who the works represent: me, someone else, family, a stranger, lover, an idol perhaps. Lay your gaze on them and they’ll gaze back at you.”
“The characters in my works do not owe me anything. Showing empathy and sensitivity without stepping into a trap is difficult, and maybe that's why it's so interesting. Every piece has its own identity, and I am just a middleman; an interpreter, a giver of form. However, just as they owe me nothing, I also don’t own them. As a viewer you get to choose who the works represent: me, someone else, family, a stranger, lover, an idol perhaps. Lay your gaze on them and they’ll gaze back at you.”
02.
Blush - the exhibition at Lokal Gallery October 2022
photography (C) Katja Hagelstam / Lokal
Echoes
01. “Girls and women, all dressed into their best dresses, work in a silk factory in the 40’s or 50’s. I am surprised. From photos the process looked still and stiff, but video footage reveals their movements were fast and lively. However, behind their focused faces I come to think how were the women really like: What kind of jokes they told, what made them smile, were the girls thinking about boys, what were their wisdom, sorrow? True colors in real life.
I would not call these artwork as portraits, rather echoes of people who might have worked here. “
I would not call these artwork as portraits, rather echoes of people who might have worked here. “
Delphian group show at Saatchi Gallery
Saatchi Gallery, London (UK) 2022Caldera
01. Paintings of Caldera vary from abstract to representational, yet both are united by a desire to capture something inherently human. Sensitivity. Beneath the vibrant and soft lines, there is a bittersweet feeling: the compulsion to move forward when one simply wants to be, to stay still even as an inner burning persists. Often, it is precisely these experiences that leave the most profound imprint. I believe in the power of subtle signals.
“I often describe my process as a snowball or a wispy cloud where movement is scattered. I periodically return to the core, continuing old themes even after years, and the concept of the whole often remains open-ended. Few things in the world have clear outlines.
Painting is a privilege. Painting is a duty. Painting is the best. Painting is observing up close and from afar.”
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When a volcano erupts, its center often fractures and collapses. This bowl-shaped depression is known as a caldera.
“I often describe my process as a snowball or a wispy cloud where movement is scattered. I periodically return to the core, continuing old themes even after years, and the concept of the whole often remains open-ended. Few things in the world have clear outlines.
Painting is a privilege. Painting is a duty. Painting is the best. Painting is observing up close and from afar.”
-
When a volcano erupts, its center often fractures and collapses. This bowl-shaped depression is known as a caldera.
02. Exhibited at Marcy Home Gallery by Antonia Hamberg in 2022
photography
(c) Juliana Irene Smith
(c) Roosa Rauatmaa, installation views
New Forms of Being
01. The New Forms of Being collection features original works from Linko's personal archives spanning the years 2018-2021. The drawings have emerged from a desire to let go, to be silent for a moment, to strip away all unnecessary elements, to discover something new, and to boldly venture on the border between good and bad taste. Some of the drawings have originated from memory traces—warm ones and those that the artist has deemed important to capture.
02. Exhibited at Oho Gallery as part of Burst Into exhibition, Helsinki fall 2021. More information here
02. Exhibited at Oho Gallery as part of Burst Into exhibition, Helsinki fall 2021. More information here
OHO Galleria, Helsinki (FI)
Photography (c) Paavo Lehtonen
Portrait paintings exhibited at Lokal Gallery group show Spring Salon 2021
Battle
01. The series – “Lately, I've been drawing female wrestlers. I am fascinated by the shapes of their bodies, simultaneously both feminine and masculine extremes. The various manifestations of strength, juxtaposed with sensitivity, have always intrigued me.
Battle is a kind of victory cheer, a resignation from the constantly imposed image of women. The vibrant and boldly executed pieces mock the assumed female rivalry, leaving room for interpretation of the figures as supporting each other—a united force and opportunity. Cheerfulness is the best weapon.”
Battle is a kind of victory cheer, a resignation from the constantly imposed image of women. The vibrant and boldly executed pieces mock the assumed female rivalry, leaving room for interpretation of the figures as supporting each other—a united force and opportunity. Cheerfulness is the best weapon.”
02. The exhibition – Gallery Ahjo, Espoo Cultural Center (FI) August 2021
photography (c) Paavo Lehtonen