I am no one, I am everyone - I am a visual artist and storyteller shaped by movement, memory, and material. Born in Helsinki in 1974, I spent my early years between sea-lined suburbs and the quiet rhythm of a small neighbourhood. Creativity has always been a part of my life—from writing stories as a child to organising an improvised theatre for local kids in our local clubhouse.

In 1999, I left Finland to study Fine Arts in the UK, embarking on a journey that would span over 25 years and cross multiple continents—from Europe to the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Although my initial focus was on art, my path later shifted toward education, a career I developed and expanded for about a decade. Throughout this time, my creative side remained a constant presence, quietly shaping my experiences. It was only upon returning to Finland that I fully embraced my identity as a visual artist, weaving together the diverse influences and skills accumulated over the years.

Now based in Hämeenlinna, Finland, I bring those experiences into my art, not as souvenirs, but as layered influences that continue to evolve as I reconnect with my roots.

I often feel like I exist in between places—never fully rooted, never quite home. After spending over 25 years living and working abroad, I became used to being a guest in other countries. Yet, now that I’ve returned to Finland, my birthplace, I find myself feeling just as much of a stranger. The people, the places, the pace of life—it’s all moved on without me. I feel as though I’m still living in the past, trying to catch up with a present that no longer fits quite right.

That sense of in-betweenness is at the heart of my current work. My artistic journey is a conversation with memory, place, and the emotional layers of time. I work primarily in textile tufting—a medium that allows me to explore how we carry the past with us, and how the things we treasure reflect who we are and who we used to be.

I create tactile, contemplative works that reconstruct place, identity, and emotion through texture, rhythm, and repetition. My tufted textile pieces often begin with my own photographs of urban spaces—Helsinki, London, Khartoum—transformed into abstracted, emotional landscapes through yarn and geometric form. Rather than replicate reality, I create from memory, letting colour express what can’t be said in words.

Textile, for me, becomes a space to reflect, mend, and reimagine—a way of honouring what’s been lost and what remains.

These practices are daily rituals for me. I often start the day working on one and end it with the other. It’s not just a rhythm—it’s a relationship. My art is driven by my deep fascination with the past and my complicated reunion with the present.

Moving back to Finland has been a kind of emotional jet lag. I’m home, but everything is unfamiliar. In a world where social media connects us instantly yet often creates a false sense of togetherness—bringing people closer while being millions of miles apart—I turn to what I know: memory, texture, colour, object. Through tuft and tile, I seek a quiet, authentic connection between what was and what is still becoming, finding belonging in the tangible and the tactile amidst the digital noise.