Johanna Pöykkö: From Dream to New

I explore the human relationship to being human, to another person, and to the ongoing life cycle. The visual art material in my works is bed linen, which serves as my painting canvas and a three-dimensional, meaning-bearing durable commodity. Through it, I tell stories and create images. I make large spatial works. I paint, work with screen printing, cut, and sew. The elements of a previous work often transform into a new space and form. The surrounding world creates the need to address certain themes. The time spent with these themes condenses them, trims the excess, and produces interpretations that reflect my perspective.

Bed linen, as a material, spatially approaching, easily draws thoughts to itself. The material I use carries memories. Almost everyone has the experience of sleeping in clean sheets. Many also have the experience of hiding under a blanket. Sheets carry memories of other people and previous users, whether at home, in a hospital, hotel, or visiting place.

For me, making art is an attempt to understand. I am a social introvert who has spent my entire life trying to find a good way to interact with other people. Suddenly, I notice it linking to my artistic work. Studies on sufficient protection, walls, boundaries, and life cycles all touch on humanity in relation to another person. I explore territories, boundaries, and protection in the form of spatial works. Is making art documenting existence or creating something new? For me, it is spending time with my thoughts and understanding what it means to be human. I explore space, lights, shadows, and shapes. In my art, I aim for a vision that I want others to see as well. We look at the same vision from our own starting points. Art is an opportunity to pause and spend time with memories and new images.

Johanna Pöykkö (b. 1977, Rovaniemi) is a textile and visual artist from Oulu, whose passion lies in spatial works. In her art, she explores the human relationship with other people and the surrounding world. Pöykkö uses bed linen as her material.