Tuukka Peltonen
I have been working with reduction woodcut technique since art school. I like the technique because it is simple and requires few tools. I feel it comes close to painting; the method resembles certain renaissance paintings where the colours are layered on top of each other from the lightest to the darkest so that the dark colours get very deep and nuanced.
I enjoy printing techniques because of the element of mediation: in woodcut, the block is a medium through which the print comes to be. This element of mediation has always fascinated me since the result is a surprise; even after 25 years working in this medium, I’m always surprised by the end result when I remove the print from the block. You might expect that at this point I would have mastered the technique well enough to know how the print is going to look, but the result still manages to surprise me every time.
Human figures have been central to my work ever since I could hold a crayon. It feels natural, like a phase that will not end. The slightly absent looking figures in an open Finnish landscape often framed with birch and spruce reflect the mysteries of life and being a human. I grew up in the countryside and live in a small town surrounded by nature, so I’m very familiar with this scenery. These are very classical Finnish landscapes with water and an open horizon, lakes and fields and forests looming in the distance…
The people in my works are outsiders; they seem to be rather colourful characters with distinctive looks, big hair and bright prints on their clothing. This creates a tension between them and the quiet countryside. Yet, this is also realism in Finland; where music festivals often see urban youngsters gather by the lakeside or in fields to enjoy the summer nights when the sun barely sets.
At some point I started playing with the hair of the figures; I would make it red or green or orange. It wasn’t intentional, but I realised it was a callback to the old Japanese woodcuts where the hair of the geishas is carved with such great care and skill. I’ve admired the Japanese woodcuts ever since art school, and when I look at them, I need to be careful not to let them affect my own work too much. Edvard Munch’s woodcuts are another great inspiration. Alongside his paintings, I found a great admiration for them during my studies. The work is really fine and simple, and the prints are often black and white and always spot on.
The gaze of the characters is also important. Sometimes the figures look out of the print at the viewer, sometimes away or at each other. They seem rather quiet and thoughtful, and the gaze is the only thing that gives away something about their thoughts and feelings. Oftentimes when I am drafting the moment I get the gaze right, so it creates a certain atmosphere and a state of mind, the draft starts to work, and I know it is ready.
