ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Anna-Leena Vilhunen

Tavallinen kuningatar maalaa| An Ordinary Queen Paints • Paintings| maalauksia | målningar

Anna-Leena Vilhunen paints heavy machinery and flying milk

Perceptions of everyday life can be seen in the paintings of artist Anna-Leena Vilhunen. Heavy machinery and a memory of an unknown woman in the street spraying her milk into the air are present in Vilhunen’s works. The exhibition An Ordinary Queen Paints is also about making art, working and parenthood.

Events that have taken place in the street have had a marked affect on Vilhunen’s artistic work. As a child she was nearly hit by a truck but her mother managed to save her at the last moment. – ’I survived and now as an adult I think this is the particular reason I paint.’

Colours and the physicality of the painting process are important. Heavy machinery still grabs my attention. -’It still gives me a quiet smile of excitement when I see excavators from the bus window’ Vilhunen describes.

The brush strokes

Painting is almost sculptural work, adding and removing of colour and bulk of paint, sensitivity and force. When paint is brushed onto canvas, this movement creates a colourful mark. The act of painting is similar to playing an instrument. The brush strokes both connect and separates, as if transmitting or providing something. These dynamics are connected to nurturing, interaction and also power.