The Artist of the Month (October 2023) of Artists’ Association of Lapland
In her exhibition Encounters Jaana Erkkilä concentrates on the relationship between human and non-human world. Hybrid creatures are part of ancient mythologies. Contemporary artists and researchers share an interest in the complex relationship between human and non-human creatures, and the theme is widely addressed in fantasy literature, films and in visual arts.
The works in the exhibition are woodcuts and linocuts. Jaana Erkkilä is interested in the possibilities of visual language, the endless variations of colors and their interaction. The theme of the works could be color or the contrast of black and white composition.
Jaana Erkkilä grounds her work in craftmanship and the idea of a skill and knowledge of a hand. The images reveal themselves through layers of colors, when the plate is gradually destroyed in the process. Materiality has a strong presence in her works, although the ideas come from the immaterial reality of imagination. Art is movement between two realities.
Jaana Erkkilä(-Hill) is an artist and artistic researcher. She is professor of visual arts in the University of Lapland, and vice rector of research at the University of the Arts Helsinki. Her works are represented in various collections. Erkkilä lives a nomadic life that is so common for our time. She shares her life between Finland and UK, according to the needs of her work and family.
Featured artwork: Encounters, 2023, woodcut, 45 x 30 cm.
Artist’s contact info:
- E-mail:
- Homepage: https://www.jaana-erkkila-hill.com/