Five Rooms
Notice: This exhibition got closed already on March 17th, due to the Corona pandemia.
We have been working in the Arabia Printmakers studio since 1998. In the shared space, each artist has an own atelier and an individual artistic identity. In our community, art is made side by side. This exhibition presents us together and personally.
“Creativity flourishes in chaos.”
“Enclyclopedias, fashion magazines, history of parks, tattoo catalogs, teenage magazines, zoological books, pictures of filmstars. And then the printing press.”
“My studio is small and full of works in progress. When I enter, I find space and freedom.”
“My own private Idaho.”
“In my room, there is a green icon and a little statuette of Buddha. I light a candle, pour some water in a brass cup and start working. Sound of a scooter in Hämeentie.”
Juha Holopainen
I have made carborundum prints since I graduated in The Institute of Fine Arts in Lahti in 1995. In this method I paint with a mixture of gesso and silicon carbide grit onto the plate. I’m fascinated with the way the carborundum prints come out, a bit rough-looking. Therefore, I see myself more as a painter. In the centre of my pictures there’s often a human figure reflecting concerns like climate change (Tornado, Storm), etc. I tend to live in the moment, day by day, because I have faced the temporality of life through many losses. “Like sands of the hourglass, so are the days of our lives” (Socrates). I believe the awareness of finiteness can be seen in my works, but hopefully also my passionate and erotic attitude towards life. My workroom reflects my motto: creativity blooms in chaos.
CV
https://juhaholopainen.wordpress.com/
Teija Immonen
I studied in Imatra Art school and graduated from University of Fine Arts in 1991 My works are a mixture of different themes, from both varying historical perspectives and popular cultural genres. My chosen works include pictorial themes from both free time and entertainment that are as timeless as classical art and touch us all. The pictures have been inspired by my own hobbies and preferences. On a general level the works represent an approach on Finnish collective knowledge. Serious themes such as loss, memories and longing are also explored.
CV
www.teijaimmonen.fi
Vappu Johansson
I have studied in the Free art school in 1980-83 and graduated from the University of Industrial Arts (Aalto University), department of Art education, in 1990. I work fast and intensively. The working process in intaglio proceeds by phases and the material gives a challenge. That keeps my energy concentrated. In my room there are several projects ongoing at the same time. This gives me freedom to work impulsively, enjoying what I do every day. I am inspired by all the knowledge of humankind and fascinated by what we still don´t know: the mystical beginning of life and the essence of consciousness.
CV
www.vappujohansson.net
Taina Kokkonen
I was born in Kajaani, Finland, in 1960. I finished Kankaanpää Art School in 1983. I hold a MA degree in Art History from the University of Jyväskylä, 1992. I assemble pieces of prints into collages. The result is always surprising and unpredictable.
CV
www.tainakokkonen.net
Metta Savolainen
I have studied in the University of Fine Arts in Helsinki, 1990-1997. First in the painting department and then two years in the printmaking department. My teachers were Leena Luostarinen ja Inari Krohn.
I am still working with these two materials: water and copper. I paint aquarelles and do metal graphic. These techniques have different rhythms and the art works find different routes to the end. The variable nature of the two materials keep me in balance.
In recent years I have been painting aquarelles, based on the world of physics and mathematics. I have painted symbolistic portraits of particles in accordance with the standard model of particle physics. I have also made abstract aquarelles of ancient geometrical contemplations as the quadrature of the circle.
Painting is about being in silence.
CV