Untitled 005 Painting

I am a Finnish abstract painter living and working in South Wales, with an intuitive take on the painting process. As a Taoist I trust in Wu Wei: the effortless action. It means trusting in the fact that things fall in their rightful place when it is the right time for them to do so. This has been proven to be true in many aspects of my life, including creatively, and as such, I like to think my artwork as a continuum of the Wu Wei principle: when an action is joyous and natural, it becomes effortless. I do not pretend to have an intricate philosophy or any kind of deep meaning behind my work; I simply paint because I love painting. I love organic, awkward and messy shapes, the kind that look naturally made rather than well thought out. My biggest inspiration comes from watching my children paint. Their naturally wonky and weird mark making skills are something I only wish I knew how to emulate. I work mainly with acrylics, but often add detail in ink or paint markers. As I do not only work with brushes but with palette knives, paint scrapers, stick and other found objects, I have found canvas sheets and acrylic paper to be the best basis for my work. That way I can be as heavy handed as need to, without the fear of damaging an already stretched canvas. I never know how a piece will turn out when I start it. In fact, most of my work starts with a random selection of leftover paint. I experiment with different colours, build my layers, I wipe, I scratch away, and paint over again. Some pieces take weeks, some only an afternoon. Often the ones that seem like the biggest mess, turn out to be the happiest accidents. When the piece is ready, it will reveal itself. I trust in that.