Jaana Heikkinen | Finland
I am an artist from Finland, graduated from the Finnish Academy of the Fine Arts.
As an artist, I get easily excited about new materials and techniques. I often work on the same subject by drawing, painting and sculpting.
For me, making art is a journey to my inner world. I'm interested in symbolism, the mysticism of nature, mythology – the human mind with its various dimensions.
I make representational arts about people and nature. I use a lot of animal subjects in my work. They symbolize to me the instinctive and subconscious side of human, our inner powers and the nature we are part of. Art is a way for me to exist, to be developed as a human.
Shadow, bronze, 51x14x14 cm, 2017
Contemporary Art Station: Tell us about how you got started. When did you know you wanted to be an artist?
I've always been interested in drawing, and at age of 14 I realized that I want to become a sculptor.
CAS: What is your process like, from initial idea to the creation of the piece? Do you usually develop the idea for a project before you find the "canvas", or vice versa?
First I get the idea and then I start working through my internal vision by thinking of techniques, materials, etc. Sometimes after that I'm sketching the work on the paper, but sometimes I start the final work without sketching. Often with new subjects I search up for symbolism and mythology related to the subject.
CAS: What do you love most about your creative process?
I love the whole process from thinking on the idea to working.
The Strength, bronze, 18x21x16 cm, 2017
CAS: What role does art and the artist play in the broader social conversation today?
In Finland, fine art has became less valued than it was before.
CAS. Name a few of your favourite artists and influences.
Helene Schjerfbeck, Gustav Klimt, Henry Moore and Auguste Rodin.
CAS: What is the best advice you received as an artist?
Even thought life changes, art stays.
CAS: When did you discover your voice as an artist?
Art is a way for me to exist, which means that my voice as an artist lives and changes through my life.
CAS: What advice would you give to emerging artists trying to find their own?
Trust on your internal vision.
Magna Mater, bronze 26x19x14 cm, 2017
