Field Studies Artist Residency: Jenni Ypparila

Meet Jenni Ypparila, a visual artist from Finland. She is best known for her distinct three-dimensional paintings but her work as an artists extends to other visual forms like oil paintings, watercolors, and video art. She has works in collections such as the Aine Art Museum (FI), Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art (FI), the Tampere Art Museum (FI), the Oulu Art Museum (FI), the Turku Art Museum (FI) and the Pori Art Museum (FI). Big thanks to our friend, Ville Hyvonen, for introducing us.

Here is more from Jenni in her words:

What brought you here?

“I heard about the residency from my spouse Alpo, who in turn had received a proposal to try out the residency from Ville. As an eager residency visitor, I immediately got excited about it. When I saw a picture of the Meteorite house, I got even more excited as I am bit of a building junkie.”

What are you working on?

“In my work I portray built environment with specific three -dimensional painting technique. My interest to buildings is primarily sociological: buildings are an expression of lived history and the present moment, of the values and changes in society, and of the social environment of individuals. Detached from their contexts, buildings are no longer places of passage but objects that can be viewed as portraits of society and its members.

At the moment I'm experimenting with different ways of working. Thematically, I am interested in the influence of places, spaces and the passage of time on identity and worldview. One of the themes in my work is describing the feeling of not belonging and how it manifests itself in different circumstances.

After a break of several years, I am also returning to video art. In the residency I started getting lot of ideas in to new video performances. During the residency Alpo and I did a quick shoot for the performance called "The Attempt to Extend Summer”, where I tried to paint all the yellow leaves in the tree back to green.”

How did you use the space?

“The space is truly inspiring. I worked in many different spots; in the kitchen, bedroom, middle floor and outside. I loved the silence of the place and the feeling where you are alone in the universe.”