PAINTINGS – Matti Happonen

Speech is silver, silence is golden. Simplification reveals the essential. How to turn that into an image? Basic forms, reduction, geometry, refinement—a pursuit of tension, dynamism, and clarity of thought.

I create images; I know nothing else, regardless of circumstances. For fifteen years, I worked as a sculptor until health reasons forced me to give up working with metals. But the need to create images remains—so now, I paint.

When sculpting, I was drawn to pure, clear forms. In my two-dimensional works, the reduction is even more extreme. There are no literary elements in my works—they represent only themselves, or rather, a certain atmosphere that emerges from the juxtaposition of colors and the relationship between surface areas.

I strive for a calm rhythm. My works are not aggressive; they are easy to approach. I see my work as a form of minimalist constructivism. I continue a tradition—I am tied to it, as is everyone else. I have yet to meet anyone who has grown up in a barrel; everything that has been done before influences what comes next. Similarly, each piece I create pushes me toward the next.

Creating images is like walking a tightrope. Despite the constant risk of falling, it must be done—again and again.

This text was created with AI assistance