Interview with Minna Komi

q)Introduce yourself, name,age, location.

a)I'm Minna Komi, 23. I live and study in Helsinki, Finland

q) Can you describe your path to being an artist? When did you really get into it?

a)I have always been interested in drawing and painting. The interest has deepened in the last three years that I have been studying painting in Free Art School. I think during the last year or so some things have just lodged into place, or more into place than they were before, and painting has become even more important to me - the most important thing.

q) Describe your ideals and how they manifest in your work.

a)Painting, for me, is about maintaining the organic feel of the work, it’s about keeping everything raw and fresh. What I'm interested in most is how to get more depth into the work - for that is the only direction you can take, just going deeper into the meanings of the painting, and the feel of it.

q) Is music a part of your studio time? What do you listen to?

a)Music plays quite a big part in my painting process, even though sometimes it's only a barrier to help me block other things out. I mostly listen to instrumental music, and more than often the same songs on repeat. “The Arrival of the Birds” by the Cinematic Orchestra is one of the songs that has stuck with me for over a year now.

q) How would you describe your work to someone?

a)I primarily work with oil colors. I'm interested in the human form, faces and nature. My work right now is mostly quite subtle and silent. I'm interested in hidden meanings, secrets inside secrets, the feel of invisibility.

q) Influences?

a)Some of my favorite painters at the moment are Markus Eek, Peter Doig and René Magritte. Some poems and books often play a part in my process too. I've been thinking about the beginning of T.S. Eliot's poem “The waste land” for quite a long time now. I must know it by heart by now.

q) Describe your process for creating new work.

a)I start with the blank canvas and some paint, and just enjoy how painting feels like. I rarely have a definite idea about what I’m going to paint. The process itself usually leads me to some place, and things that have been on my mind, maybe not even that consciously, come through.

The painting process never sleeps; most things in my life are in some way connected to painting. I usually work on many paintings at the same time. Sometimes I may throw a lot of things away, if I’m not satisfied with them. I like to keep things fresh.

Painting, for me, is about discovering myself – but at the same time I have an urge to hide away from it. I rarely am able to continue a painting after the feelings and thoughts have run their course. I need to be in tight connection with my paintings for the whole time I work.

q) What advice do you have for artists looking to show their work?

a)It's always good to try all the venues that you have. It's quite hard to find a good space, so group exhibitions and competitions are a good opportunity.

q) What are you really excited about right now?

a)I'm looking forward to just continue painting, that's the one thing I'm most passionate about. I have an urge to paint. I'm working on different things right now, and I'm most excited to just see where the paintings lead me, what they want to become.

q) What do you love most about where you live?

a)I love the nature and how the seasons change. But most of all, all the people close to me close by.

q) Best way to spend a day off?

a)With a good friend.

q) Upcoming shows/ projects?

a)Right now I want to focus only on painting, even though I have a few projects in consideration.

q) Where can people see more of your work on the internet?

a)I have a website that I update regularly with new work and information about upcoming exhibitions, www.minnakomi.net