Dreamers and Stargazers
As a child I was a dreamer and gave my own names to the stars in the sky. I named the belt of Orion as ALF after my favourite tv-series. As a teenager my main creative outlet was artsy photos of my feet, trash cans and rusted metal. I spent countless hours in the darkroom of my parents’ photography studio where I developed my own black and white photos, mostly imitating the work of Arno Rafael Minkkinen.
In the early 90’s I applied to the Turku Art Academy to study photography, and even recorded eerie guitar music as a soundtrack for a would-be exhibition. I did not get in to the school, and the exhibition never materialised, but the music I had recorded became my first solo album and was later released by a Belgian record label Kraak. I did not have to think twice: I gave up photography and for the next two decades I was swept away into the world of experimental music and film.
25 years later, as the pandemic hit the world, I was looking for a new outlet for my creativity that could be realised in the confines of the quarantines and lock downs. Luckily I did not do the obvious and begin photographing my feet again, but instead combined my love for astronomy and photography. Actual astrophotography didn’t interest me though; it was the stellar nursery under the rowan tree on my front yard, the bright red woven comet in Kauppi and the planets we ate at a midsummer party in Kemiönsaari that became the inspiration for my work. These works are photographs of imagined astronomical events, dedicated to the dreamers and stargazers.
You can see the photos at upcoming exhibitions in 2022. Keep up to date on my events by following me on instagram. The photos are available for purchase from Tampere Taidelainaamo and directly from me. The prints are high quality Giclée-prints on Hahnemuehle fine art paper. The frames are hand-made at Malkki framing in Tampere and have a Truevue museum quality glass.
Interstellar Weaves / Tähtienväliset kudelmat
Giclée-print 60×78 cm
Edition 20
Warm Welcome of the Celestial Bodies / Taivaankappaleiden lämmin vastaanotto
Giclée-print 60×78 cm
Edition 20
Stellar Nursery / Tähtihautomo
Giclée-print 60×78 cm
Edition 20
Photos from Galleria Ronga exhibition opening on 19.8.2022.