Old to new

Back in 2021 I made a series of paintings: Worn. They were a homage to my hometown, Porvoo, Finland. I captured the message they carry as follows:

Porvoo, my hometown has a colourful and long history. There are human-made constructions of wood, iron, bricks and stone that have stood there longer than a human lifespan is to last. In the old town and the old railway station you can see iron tiles, wooden walls and plasterings that have once been shiny and new. Like paintings of just one color – tabula rasa. The wind, sun and the rains have changed their surfaces to something else. The rust, detrition, corrosion and mechanical influences have reformed them into new surfaces.

As I’ve had my walks in these places I have realized that they are as a metaphore of life itself. A human being is born as an empty canvas. Everything is shiny and new and includes potential to whatever you can imagine. The winds, rain and the sunshine – the ordeals – they shape us into the creations that we are today. We are the surfaces that others admire, love – or hate. None of us can be spared from the ordeal or the life itself. The most important thing is how we perceive these detritions. In ourselves and others.

These detail rich surfaces you can observe in my trilogy work ”Worn” if you so wish to.

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Now the trilogy is growing to something bigger. I’ve finished one new work for the series ”Muutoksia V”. Another one, Muutoksia IV is in the making, but the fifth one got finished first 🙂 Muutoksia translates to ”Changes” in english. That’s what life is all about. ”Panta rhei ”, ”Everything flows” said good old Herakleitos.

Years have passed since 2021 and the message is stamped before me even stronger now. Time adds value. Time reveals. Keep on riding the wave of time. Keep living.