ESSI KUOKKANEN’S (b. 1991) paintings speak of sensitivity, introspection and sympathy. They give form to unspoken yet vivid thoughts and feelings that hover on the borderline of sleep. Beneath the sometimes humorous surface lies solemnity and depth. Everything is connected, boundaries between species become fluid, the inanimate becomes alive and living creatures break apart. Kuokkanen is interested in the physicality of emotion – how events in the mind create a physical reaction in the body. The figures in her paintings and drawings are like reservoirs filled with feeling, occasionally spilling, oozing or overflowing uncontrollably. Hands sweat, eyes water and shame has a slimy feel to it.

Determined, mischievous and sensitive, Kuokkanen’s shrewd brush investigates and illustrates the contradictions, hypocrisies and distortions of our world. Instead of cynicism or condemnation, there is compassion and gentleness in Kuokkanen’s gaze. The actions of the figures in her works often stem from good intentions, ultimately (and perhaps accidentally) causing chaos. 

A core aspect of Kuokkanen’s work is to record different observations and ideas in sketchbooks. Drawing is an important part of the process, for it is only through a drawing that the subject of the future painting gains concrete form. For Kuokkanen, the image always comes first, serving as a necessary impulse for starting the process of painting. Along with the importance of the image, the feeling and smell of the painting, handling it and especially its movement play an important role. The painting and the images collaborate and nourish each other. The paint is the medium that facilitates the emergence of the image.

Some of the paintings may be put on hold for a long while to await completion. In the meantime, Kuokkanen will work on other themes and motifs. In this process, the content of the paintings may change considerably and the intervening works will assist in the finishing of the paintings set aside, because the mutual themes of the works lend support to each other. The simultaneous preparation of motifs creates a single large collage. This collage is a train of thought in which the viewer encounters a merging of the real and the imagined to form a single entity.