Statement

I have been working as a ceramic artist since the year 1998. My working is strongly bound up with material. I often use Finnish red clay that I handle by polishing or smoking. I am fascinated by the possibilities of unglazed surface. The making process is hand-building, the slowness of which is extremely significant to me. The substance of a work is crystallized into its final form during the time-consuming and heavy making process. I appreciate the traditional craftsmanship, and I want my own work to have a share in the ancient craft of ceramists.

My artistic work in based on clay. The fact that I am doing material -based art, doesn´t mean that the substance of my art is subordinate to the material. Instead, my own expression is improving in the ever-deepening knowledge of the material. I find ideas for my work in my surroundings and in the society where I live. But the technical realization of the work dates back to thousands of years. This very contradiction creates suspense into my work.

The substantial themes of my works are lately defined by the experience of being a human in this world. In my opinion, art always depicts its own era. I am doing modern ceramic art, and for my part my art gives expression to the world I live in.

Already for a long time, I have been dealing in my work with the relation between a spectator and  a work , and how an artistic experience is concretized in the action of a spectator and a user. Being a handiwork artist myself I feel very close to the idea that understanding evolves through action. I want a spectator to have a possibility to approach my own work through action, as well.