THE TRACE OF A HUMAN – Outi Aho

A landscape is born in the moment we observe it. It is everywhere and for everyone. How we interpret the relationship between nature and the built environment is always tied to the values of the society in which we live. In particular, the built cultural landscape tells the story of our lives, our ways of living, and their changes. Why is the built landscape the way it is? What marks do we leave on the landscape?

In Outi Aho’s exhibition, large-scale drawings depict spaces and places created by human labor. The series offers new perspectives on the traditional concept of landscape. While the places and spaces shown in the works are based on reality, the series moves in the boundary area between the real and the unreal. By drawing, mental images of places and spaces have been created, where human influence is visible, but without the presence of the human being. In the era of digital reproduction, drawing as a means of expression is a conscious choice. The works are layered wholes that develop slowly and calmly through the process of drawing. In this way, the personally experienced feelings of the landscape are conveyed as traces on paper.

Outi Aho (born 1965) works in Tampere. She graduated as a visual artist (AMK) from the Turku Academy of Fine Arts in 2015 and is currently studying for a Master’s degree in Visual Arts (YAMK) in Kankaanpää. She has held numerous solo exhibitions and participated in many group and collective exhibitions. Aho is a member of the Finnish Association of Printmakers, the Finnish Painters’ Union (associate member), and the Tampere Artists’ Association.

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