Miia Puustinen & Valo Vairio: artists at Studio Asylum

07 May 2015 Kindly invited to the presentation of art works of Miia Puustinen & Valo Vairio, on Thursday 7th May, at 7 pm, at the Alkatraz Gallery, ACC Metelkova. The presentation, which will be held in English, is a part of artists in residence programme in Studio Asylum.

Statements of the artists:

Valo Vairio

Hello I´m 25 years old artist from Helsinki. I do music videos, short movies and paintings. Here in Studio Asulym I concentrate to do paintings. My paintings are very abstract and sometimes naive because I want that everyone can see them in their own, different ways. My usual way of working is collect stuff from surrounding areas and abandoned places. I see old, broken, useless and ugly things but still i can find some beauty in them. Those forgotten objects are working as an inspiration, and are a start for new paintings and collages. It’s always a surprise what you find, but it has to be somehow interesting: material, colour, structure, form, feeling or its history – anything. Usually materials are only a piece of rubbish, but through my work I want to give a new meaning to it, a new life, when its story continues.

Miia Puustinen

I study textile design and art in Aalto University, Helsinki. My studies are mostly related to the design, but I’ve always been more interested in art and illustration. I found traditional textile techniques really fascinating, like screen printing and embroidery. In studio Asylum my project is to collect visual memories during april and may. Basicly it means that I illustrate things that I see and experience daily. I use different techniques: ink, drawing and photography. What is that moment when object, event or place becomes as a memory? Another part of my project is to embroider those ”collected memories” and make a wall hanging.

Briefly, in our presentation we will tell more about our projects and show pictures about our work in process. We have also taken photographs about places and structures that we consider as inspiring, and those pictures are part of the presentation.