Janne Jaaskelainen

Janne Jaaskelainen is an artist working primarly in oils. He studied and taught classical art extensively in Florence, Italy for nearly 10 years prior to returning home to Finland.

He describes his work as a type of journey into a dark imaginary world that acts largely as a symbolistic representation of some of the harsher aspects of the nature of his native country. Into this landscape he often places individual travellers or groups of people dealing with both timeless and contemporary challenges that humankind is facing.

In his creative process Jaaskelainen is driven by a desire to construct a world of ones own, a sort of stage for the narrative or the sentiment he wishes to express in each piece. This coupled with a deep fascination with the less naturalistic periods of classical art, such as the Renaissance, the Baroque and the symbolists of the 19th century, makes him emphasize the use of imagination and exaggeration of both the landscape and the human form in his work.

* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 14^th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.