I’m a Finnish artist based in Helsinki. I work mainly mixing acrylic, gouache, watercolors, pan pastels and soft pastels.
Here is my story as an artist.
For some, life may only begin halfway through the journey. When all your time in life has gone into survival and you have lived in the middle of all levels of insecurity, you may have lost yourself. When you are striving from the depths to the surface, you don’t even have time to dream about what you would do with rest your life.
But it can also happen that when the whole world is about to fall down, you get dragged onto dry land, or when the rest of the world lives in fear, you experience happiness you’ve never experienced before. You save yourself. Find your happiness. From art. This is what happened to me, I got and gave myself a second chance.
For me, my paintings are like pages from my diary, they are my life. They could be described as visual autofiction, combining feminine aesthetics with motifs such as shame, sorrow, fear, despair and parenthood.
One question is often asked: Why do you only paint women?
Naturally, nothing is a closer topic for me than living the life of a woman. Being a mother to a young woman multiplies that importance to another level.
At this age I have already experienced lot and seen different aspects of life, but as an artist I am still very young.
I haven’t received an actual art education, but the long term professional artist Henry Wuorila-Stenberg (my uncle) has given me private guidance and encourage. He has also been a teacher, e.g. in University of Art and Design Helsinki and as a professor in Academy of Fine Arts Helsinki. He says: “Shame is a good teacher, total breakdown is even better”. Perhaps I have learned at least something.
I have delved into processing traumatic experiences through artistic means while studying Trauma and Art at Aalto University.
