OPTIGRAPHY – Jonna Suurhasko

Optigraphic = A two- and three-dimensional optical illusion of form, depth, and tension, illustrated through printmaking techniques and material contrasts.

I am fascinated by the act of looking itself—how the eye functions and attempts to focus on a subject. What do we look at, and how? As I walk through the city daily, I see dirty window panes and the shifting views beyond them. I try to focus—on the window, the landscape, the window again. Do we look at the surface or beyond it? Can we ever see everything at once?

I construct illusions of perspective using old, scratched acrylic sheets layered over woodcut prints. My works are a kind of visual game, simultaneously revealing and concealing.

Originally trained as a printmaker, I have expanded my practice in recent years toward three-dimensional work. My process is deeply material-driven. I spend a great deal of time in scrapyards, among construction debris, and at flea markets, searching for something I didn’t yet know I needed. When I find an intriguing material, I begin developing a woodcut to complement it. The interplay of materials, colors, shapes, and their resulting rhythms and structures, combined with traditional printmaking techniques, creates a new kind of sculptural form—one where history is embedded in the layers.

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