TRACKS AND CONNECTIONS – Heikki Hautala

what defines my choices
my next gesture or expression
my step or my sentence
a compulsive movement, I can’t stay here either
the stillness of stones feels foreign
street dust floating in the air
a mouth full of gravel
the striving of leaves towards the light feels foreign
roots reaching into the darkness
deep into the nourishing soil

My exhibition consists of drawings and paintings I have created over the past six months. My work is an ongoing process, where renewal happens gradually and in phases through chance, repetition, mistakes, and success. My way of working is more of an obsession than a cool, analytical approach.

My goal is, in a way, simple: to create images that resonate within myself and, hopefully, also in time, space, and the viewer. I have a strong dependence on my works. Without me, they wouldn’t exist, and without them, I would be something else. When meaning is difficult to grasp, it must be created.

Of course, I could seek other jobs, study something, reproduce, or even train for the Boston Marathon and queue for the summit of the Himalayas, but right now, I am interested in visual art, music, literature, films—creative expression in all its forms. These are what best describe to me what it feels like to exist in this time, in this place.

This exhibition has been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland and the Satakunta Arts Committee.

Translated with ChatGPT