Vekka, Ilkka | Artist Register – Artists’ Association of Finland

Bio

Short biography of Ilkka S. Vekka

Ilkka S. Vekka (born 25 April 1974) is a Finnish artist who works in experimental sound, painting and sculpture.

Born in Hämeenlinna in Southern Finland, Vekka received training in sculpture and new media arts during the time he studied at the Lahti Polytechnic Institute of arts, graduating with a Bachelor of arts degree in 2003. He is associated with Finnish noise musicians, and like most of them conceives his art outside traditional categories of genre. Vekka's surrealist splatter and collage paintings, like his sound works, use themes of psychedelia, insanity, and violence. In the 1990s, Vekka was a member of Platypus (later Plat Ypus) a pioneering Finnish psychedelic noise rock band.
As a painter/sculptor he is known as a member of the Golden diamond artists group, who have had several exhibitions in Finnish art museums and smaller galleries.

Vekka's soundwork under the alias of "Haare", which can be considered both harsh and psychedelic, was first brought available as cdr-releases via his own microlabel 26VOD in the late 1990's. Since then, he has had several releases on many eperimental record labels (Freak animal (Finland), Chondritic sound (Usa), Unrest (UK), Abisko (Sweden) etc.) and many different formats (cd, vinyl record, cassette tape).
In 2009, Vekka celebrated the 10 year anniversary of Haare by playing a special live show at the Ptarmigan artspace in Helsinki. Recently, he has started to use drones and other more minimalistic sounds in his works, cutting out most of the abundance of soundsources that his more psychedelic pieces are known for.
Vekka's hobby is collecting vinyl records and he has a large collection of psychedelic and experimental music. He also holds a 2nd dan black belt in the Japanese martial art Shorinji kempo.

Vekka continues to make art and music.