Miikka Heinonen

 

Born 1969 in Turku, Finland, lives in Luxembourg

 

After studying at Aberystwyth University Arts Centre and St. David's College at the University of Wales, Heinonen graduated in 1996 in Fine Arts and Art History at the University of Turku, Finland. Heinonen uses the newest image-making technologies to create enduring images of our Being-in-the-world, and of our capacity of making sense of things. By focusing on a single subject,  he simplifies the image without stereotyping it, instead creating an openness in which the viewers can bring their own hopes and fears, their emotions and experiences. Heinonen paints with light; it is the quintessential ingredient of his works. Reducing colour to the stark contrast of white and black while playing with the subtle nuances in between, his carefully framed compositions depict mythical scenes that seem only exist in our imagination. Heinonen conceptualizes the place of the individual in natural and city spaces that are always at least partly familiar to the viewer and imply an ever-strong connection between the local and the global, providing a cultural melting pot for the formation of public and private histories.