Ville Laitinen

Artist's country of origin: Finland

I think that I always wanted to become an artist – but was recommended a “more setting” path to live my life. After years of living by the ideals and meanings given to me by others I lost faith in the meaning of my life. I looked face-to-face to my nihilistic tendencies and found the courage to re-evaluate what in life is important to me. So when I was 26-years-old, I decided to pursue my dream of becoming an artist that I had sacrificed in order to fulfill the needs of others. I practiced and studied drawing and painting a lot on my own until I got to study at Turku University of Applied Sciences. Studies started during turbulent covid times and the school didn’t seem to fulfill the hopes and dreams about studying in an art school. It took 3 years of studies until I truly found myself and what sort of art I really want to do. I had fallen back into my bad habits, I tried to do art to fulfill ideals of the school and sacrificed what I wanted to do. I haven’t been part of many exhibitions, even the first school exhibition I skipped due to an panic attack. But from these… difficult pathways I did find my courage to take part in Hiostamo 4 -exhibition (part of studies) in 2023 and graduating students exhibition Nytt 2024. In 2023 I got two grants from the city of Turku. 1350€ for drawing performance art. 2500€ to grab my easel, walk around the city and paint portraits of people who agree to sit down to be a model for me. When the paintings were finished, I gave them to the models themselves as a gift. (by me and city of Turku!)