With her expressive style and painterly brushstrokes, this Finnish illustrator stole the show at last month’s Pick Me Up festival. Grafik caught up with her to get the low-down on her latest projects.
Describe your style.
I work by hand, and only use the computer in the final stages of the design process. My work fluctuates between drawing, painting, and lettering, and sometimes I combine all the processes into one collage. It means my style can be very simple black and white drawing, or very colourful collage art. Others have described my work bold, joyful, expressive, and self-confident. Personally, I try to add a personal touch to every piece. I like the idea that it looks a person made it. I also like the kind of style that isn't too polished, and leaves a little bit to the imagination.
Tell us about your recent work for ELLE magazine.
I was asked to illustrate the back cover for ELLE magazine’s March 2014 issue. The back cover of ELLE always showcases a different artist and is text-oriented. The series is called 'Doodle notes'. My subject was Will Smith, not perhaps my personal hero but definitely an interesting persona. As he is a master of many spheres, it was challenging to fit all the information in one page. I was surprised there weren't that many spelling mistakes. In general, commissions involving lettering are always fun and easygoing. Clients tend to have more opinions when it comes to figurative illustration.
What’s you favourite medium to work in and why?
I love to paint and draw at a large scale. I use A1 size and ink to create images and typography. Finding the right shape with big paper and brush is meditative and fun. Creating an image with a big brush also requires to simplicity. If I get it right with the big picture, it usually works in small too.
Tell us more about your project for Mykita.
Mykita is a cool German retail brand specialising in eyewear. It asked me to make window decorations for its shops for Christmas. They had seen my collage-style illustrations for a Finnish dance club called Kaiku, which was nice as it's one of my favourite pieces of work as well. I created a combination of eight graphic sticker components, and created different compositions for shops in Berlin, London, Monterrey, New York, Paris, Tokyo, Vienna, and Zurich. The illustration is made using a combination of watercolor, ink, bamboo sticks, and torn coloured paper and transformed into stickers using colourful, gold, silver and transparent foils.
How has the Finnish illustration scene influenced your work?
Finland has a long tradition of design and Finnish illustration is doing particularly well internationally at the moment. However, I have never really felt part of the scene. It is good to know its roots and have a deep understanding of design, but ideally those rules are meant to be broken. Finnish style is very minimal and concept-based, as it has strong roots in functionalism. Personally, I find maximalism more challenging in a positive way. In both art and design, I want to find something mysterious but touching at the same time. That's my goal.
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