Tuomas Aitamurto
A painter from Helsinki, Finland:
I have always been a hermit, drawing and sketching imaginary worlds since I was very young. At around my teenage years in Helsinki Upper Secondary School of Visual Arts I made the decision to pursue a career in the arts. Painting is a way for me to reflect on the world and, above all, my inner world. My work explores philosophy, memories and humanity. I am fascinated by the borderlands: dreams and waking, past and present, personal and mythical. A common theme in my art is symbolism. People, animals and creatures appear in my paintings, they can be recognisable or completely unfamiliar. For me, the most important thing is that the viewer can encounter something personal in the work, and also find their own meanings and interpretations in them. Perhaps an emotion or an echo of a memory that they have not previously been able to articulate. My creative process begins with a few carefully chosen key ideas. I am by nature a slow and patient painter. My main mediums are oil paints, acrylics, watercolours and tempera. In my recent work I am interested in exploring mixed media, where I use two or more painting techniques in one piece. Different materials play a really important role for me in my work. I prefer make the painting canvases for almost all my works myself. During a long and deliberate period of work, I study the subject matter of each piece in more detail, and delve deeper into the media, literature and history associated with it. I keep a record of my findings, and do not try to rush my work. For me, painting is like doing research - thorough and rewarding, like walking along a path without a map towards something elusive.