Darkness and Light: The Drawings of Helena Tiainen
by: Phillip Barcio on September 16th, 2009 | 6 Comments »
“I am not sure I would call my work revolutionary. I think I would call it transformational. I do believe that if openly perceived it can unlock new ways of seeing and being to the viewer.” — Helena Tiainen
In Finland, in the long winter months in the part of the country that lies above the Arctic Circle, the sun does not rise at all for weeks on end.
It is during this time of extreme darkness each November that Finland’s capital city of Helsinki is transformed by the festival of Valon Voimat, “Forces of Light.”
For more than a week artists converge on Helsinki, filling the city’s urban spaces with light-filled installations, glowing, mechanical sculptures, fire-ridden street performances and imaginative, luminous creations of all sorts, bringing the city temporarily aglow.
Valon Voimat challenges the Zen kōan that it is impossible to study the darkness by switching on a light.
Helsinki-born artist Helena Tiainen is no stranger to the contradictions raised each dark November by Valon Voimat.
Through the intuitive paintings and drawings she creates, Tiainen shines a light on the darkness of her viewers’ preconceptions by challenging them to “not take things for granted, to question perception and push the boundaries of what might be.”
“Freedom of Speech” by Helena Tiainen. To see more of Helena’s work, visit the Tikkun art gallery.
Describing her artwork as simultaneously abstract and representational, Tiainen focuses on her own loving, peaceful intentions while she works, and hopes by doing so to encourage viewers to connect with the love within themselves as they interact with the forms on the canvas.
“It is my intention that my work evoke whatever the viewer needs to perceive in the moment,” says Tiainen. “I want it to mirror to the viewer the contents of their own mind.
“I paint from internalized life experiences in the moment. These experiences are transformed into color and form. The “inner” realities are transformed into visual concepts of composition and rhythm.
“Even the most representational of my work is abstract to me as well. I perceive “reality” in both terms. I see the “object” but I also see this object as color and form.”
Through this visceral aesthetic language Tiainen hopes to inspire the viewers of her art to identify new ways for themselves and their culture to evolve.
“I hope that my art enables people to see that there is no one way of seeing and being. We can each look at what is in front of us from many different angles and choose to focus on the best perspective in the moment. I hope my art will enable people to make choices that serve the good of the all instead of just themselves. I would like to enable the viewers of my work to wake up to the “bigger picture”.
Central to Tiainen’s success in this effort is the individual viewer’s ability to connect with the vibrations or energy echoes Tiainen commits to her work without also being given a detailed explanation of the artist’s intentions.
Can we look at one of Tiainen’s images and feel the love? Can we experience what she intended us to experience? Can we sense the peace and understanding if we have not first been taught to communicate using this indirect, roundabout, intuitive, artistic language?
By confronting imagery outside of the range of what we normally see, and by challenging our minds to connect in new ways to the unusual, to the intuitive, to the abstract, we may be able to learn new ways of connecting and empathizing with the inner lives of others. In this way perhaps Tiainen can inspire material progress in the culture.
“Only through conscious change is there a difference between the future and the past,” says Tiainen. “Otherwise the history/herstory will keep on repeating itself. Humans are creatures of habit. I believe we create our future in the now. How we think, feel and act in this moment will define the quality of our next moment. I believe humanity has the power to create a more humane world and end much of the struggle we have created for ourselves. We truly have the ability to create emotional heaven or hell thru our thinking and feeling patterns. We have the ability to create peace and to create war. And we have the power to make choices and to choose differently than our ego inclinations would define.”
I especially enjoyed this article because Phil gave his personal interpretations of much of what Tiainen is doing, rather than having the bulk of the interview consist of quotations from the interview with the artist.
I believe that artists especially appreciate seeing how they appear through the eyes of another rather than simply seeing their own thoughts reproduced in print.
I thank Tikkun and Phil for continuing to expand the artistic horizons of its readers. Excellent job, Phil!
Frank Turris
“I am not sure I would call my work revolutionary. I think I would call it transformational. I do believe that if openly perceived it can unlock new ways of seeing and being to the viewer.” – Helena Tiainen
Isn’t it more than a little pompous for her to suggest that her pictures are “transformational”, that they “unlock new ways of seeing and being to the viewer”? Beethoven does that. Darwin did that. Freud did that. I am not sure Helena Tianen does.
In response to Jack Kessler’s criticism. Perception is in the eye of the beholder. I never stated that the work will open anything for you. I stated that it can. This does not come from any form of pompousness. All art has the ability to open new doors for a viewer that has the eyes and understanding to perceive this. This is something that is inneate to any form of art. My response that got quoted was in response to a question that asked in what way my art was revolutionary. I see my work as transformational, not revolutionary. What does something to one person may not do the same thing to another. I did not mean anything pompous with my statement and am sorry that you see it that way. I am not asking you to agree with me but I am certainly not coming from anything pompous.
Jack, to paraphrase a great insight, if you are going to take the measure of an artist, take the full measure. Your comment does not relate to Helen’s quote. It relates to your paraphrasing of Helen’s quote. Ironically, you validate Helen’s comment that, “if openly perceived it can unlock new ways of seeing and being to the viewer.” You are not open to this work, and that is your prerogative not to open yourself to it.
As for your personal roll call of “transformational” individuals, those people apparently transformed you and that is wonderful. But that doesn’t mean they are universal in their ability to transform. And into what have they transformed you if you harbor such bitterness?
What Freud, Darwin, and Beethoven may have done for some, Helena’s work may do the same for another. What I find important in her work is that she is not afraid to explore and act on her intuitions and has found a strong visual outlet. What drew me to Helena’s work was the dynamic maze of figurative and non figurative illustration in a single piece, carrying the viewer in a sort-of back and forth movement, strongly reflecting what could be the artists’ stream of consciousness- a personal private thought or a reaction to contemporary issues.
This is really a terrific website. Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wished to say that I’ve really enjoyed surfing around your blog posts.