ARTIST'S INTRODUCTION

When my husband was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in November 2016, a period began in my life that has so far proved to be the hardest of my path. Many things changed during these years. On the one hand, everything remained the same, but in the end, these years shaped us into new versions of ourselves. Fortunately, I can say today that my spouse is alive and well, we have managed to raise our young children to school age in the midst of everything, and all is well in our family. Better than ever.

As a child, art and culture was present in our family's everyday life in its various forms. My father is Japanese and my mother is Finnish, so I found two different cultures to combine in my everyday life.

My earliest memory of the visual arts is from art school, maybe at the age of six. I was given a two-by-four, which was just an ordinary wooden board. The task was to paint whatever I wanted on it. I was ecstatic to be able to decide for myself what the board should look like. I quickly painted a background colour on my board and then painted lots of colourful patterns on top. When the others were just starting theirs, I asked if I could have another board since this one was already full.

I drew and painted a lot of everyday life around me and illustrated stories I made up in my head. From time to time I invited my family to an art exhibition in the living room. However, as I grew from a child into a teenager, my self-criticism grew too, and I abandoned art. I concentrated on other things, such as playing the violin and eventually figure skating, where I progressed to the Finnish national championship level.

Coming back to adulthood, and to a point where my whole life seemed to be crumbling, I was lucky enough to find something that finally created a completely new direction for my life. I found art, again. I know that this is something that is meant for me. When everyday life consisted of everything but my own well-being, I really needed something to hold on to in the midst of the storm. I needed something that was my own, something that would bring strength and energy in the midst of all the accomplishment and getting on with life. Of course, first I had to overcome my inner voice that told me not to paint or draw because someone else would do it better anyway. I feel a real sense of gratitude that after all the trials and tribulations, these thoughts finally began to feel pointless, and I was able to embrace what brought me genuine joy.

By the end of 2020, I was back to painting again, after a 30-year break. At first, I painted for my own pleasure. Then people around me started to take an interest in my work. I started selling my paintings. Eventually I took a leave of absence from my day job as a marketing specialist and in 2021 I went to the Pekka Halonen Academy to see what it would be like to stop and enjoy art in my daily life. It was the best leap of fate in my life! I got to paint and sculpt, create installations and printmaking. I was like that little six year old again, free to do what I wanted to do in my heart.

In my last courses at the Pekka Halonen Academy before graduating, I explored the possibilities of virtual reality in art. I was so inspired that I decided to buy VR glasses and create a work called "Paradise" for the Taiteiden Yö in Tuusula, which included an installation built in a room and a landscape composed for VR headset. These spaces were in conversation with each other. The viewer was able to float in the clouds and, if they wished, actually feel one of the clouds in the middle of the landscape with their hands.

Fate intervened on the morning of that particular exhibition. It was quite by chance that I found a job advertisement in the Finnish National Gallery for a very interesting position. The job partly dealt with the same subject I was putting together an exhibition on, the possibilities of digitalisation and also blockchain technology in the field of art. I decided to apply for this job, and now I am part of a team that is, among other things, researching and piloting what a digital art museum experience could be in the future. It's incredible that now art is part of my day job and I get to work alongside some of Finland's greatest museums, the Ateneum art museum, Contemporary Art Museum Kiasma and Sinebrychoff Art Museum, surrounded by top professionals.

My own artistic work is largely based on intuition. After all my life experiences, I have found that I want to listen to my intuition more. When I paint, I want to calm down and listen to my inner voice and follow my feelings with what is being created on paper or canvas. I often find that I end up abstracting the energy around us in my work. Often I combine the abstract environment with descriptions of birds, for example.

I'm really grateful for you to find your way to my art!

Best regards,
Oona