Taru Happonen
Taru Happonen (b. 1989, Lahti) is a Helsinki-based visual artist working with paintings, sculptures, and drawings. She graduated with a Master’s degree in 2023 from the Academy of Fine Arts at the University of the Arts Helsinki. In her works, Happonen examines the environment and organisms from both microscopic proximity and cosmic scales. Her artworks speak of the significance of wonder, viewing the world as it is – complex and constantly changing. Different species, materials, and environments appear in her works as equals.
Taru Happonen
Taru Happonen (b. 1989, Lahti) is a Helsinki-based visual artist working with paintings, sculptures, and drawings. She graduated with a Master’s degree in 2023 from the Academy of Fine Arts at the University of the Arts Helsinki. In her works, Happonen examines the environment and organisms from both microscopic proximity and cosmic scales. Her artworks speak of the significance of wonder, viewing the world as it is – complex and constantly changing. Different species, materials, and environments appear in her works as equals.
Happonen’s expression bears figurative elements that partially disintegrate into abstraction. In her works, one can discern references to butterfly wings, aerial views of landscapes, nebulae, or cellular structures. She employs a wide range of materials in her artworks, including oil paint, recycled plastic, mineral resin, epoxy, linen, metal, and pearlescent pigments. Organic and synthetic elements are intricately intertwined. The various patterns, forms, and materials in her works create links between each other – highlighting the unity of life, continuity, and the deep layers of time.