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Vesa Aaltonen: Metsämaisema / Forest Landscape
Forest Landscape, sf the Series Mindscapes.
Gallery Å, Turku 2016, Poriginal Gallery, Pori, Gallery Nykyaika, Tampere, 2018
The basis for my work is the Finnish landscape. The motives of my work lie somewhere between what is real and what is imaginary. I often work spontaneously, experimenting a lot. Nature and landscape act as a playground for my work, which is often influenced by impressionism. I have been trying to move away from realistic expression in order to capture the true essence of landscape. Instead of pedantic documentation I paint by shifting my camera during variable exposure times. The result does not necessarily correspond to what you are actually seeing – equivalence is not important.
Observing the changes of the landscape is essential for my work. I am trying to capture the magical feeling, and here light plays the biggest part: it creates form and makes the atmosphere right. The optimal light does not exist, the right moment can be very sudden. Sunlight makes the forest shimmer with light, however, the light never stops moving. It only lingers for a while, then continues on its way. It does not wait to be photographed so one needs to be fast. Unlike human eyes, the camera does not focus on single details, the quantity of which is often too much for our visual memory to process. Memory is selective. In our memories the physical place becomes secondary and details disappear. What remains is the essential: light, form, and vision. A mental image of the landscape – a mindscape.
Gallery Å, Turku 2016, Poriginal Gallery, Pori, Gallery Nykyaika, Tampere, 2018
The basis for my work is the Finnish landscape. The motives of my work lie somewhere between what is real and what is imaginary. I often work spontaneously, experimenting a lot. Nature and landscape act as a playground for my work, which is often influenced by impressionism. I have been trying to move away from realistic expression in order to capture the true essence of landscape. Instead of pedantic documentation I paint by shifting my camera during variable exposure times. The result does not necessarily correspond to what you are actually seeing – equivalence is not important.
Observing the changes of the landscape is essential for my work. I am trying to capture the magical feeling, and here light plays the biggest part: it creates form and makes the atmosphere right. The optimal light does not exist, the right moment can be very sudden. Sunlight makes the forest shimmer with light, however, the light never stops moving. It only lingers for a while, then continues on its way. It does not wait to be photographed so one needs to be fast. Unlike human eyes, the camera does not focus on single details, the quantity of which is often too much for our visual memory to process. Memory is selective. In our memories the physical place becomes secondary and details disappear. What remains is the essential: light, form, and vision. A mental image of the landscape – a mindscape.
