Mind Machine.

Marionette. Copyright 2011 H.M

(The background art is by Candybird ♥ )Before I start talking about my art project 'Mind Machine', I'd briefly like to address my entry on vegetarianism.

It seems that it has aroused some bad blood among (some) of my readers (wow we have readers O_o). They think I shouldn't be addressing such delicate issues, like vegetarianism, if I intend to become a public figure (yeah I wanna be a famous artist one day). They say that talking about vegetarianism on my blog will probably affect my future employment and partnerships because (apparently) people have a strong idea of what vegetarians are like. In short, vegetarians are anarchists and pirates. They are people who bust into labs and fur farms to free animals, spray people who wear fur with pepper spray and trash fur shops. aka they are no good. These reader's transition to the 21st century, never happened I see.

I don't mind a little anarchy, actually I find it very interesting. HOWEVER, that is not how I see and do things. Furs are out there in the shops, on rich-bitches backs whether we like it or not. One should try to reach the consumers and convince them that fur is so not cool nor good looking (after all, who would want wear the skins of murdered animals). Ban fur for life people and you won't see them in shops anymore. We do this respectfully and without violence of course. I don't believe that the animal and enviromental activists of today operate like they used to. I understand that in the past, people who had strong ethical belief and saw animals and as equals to humans sometimes saw that awareness could only be achived through dramatic actions. But I believe that that is no more. And I most certainly am not like that.

I chose to become a vegetarian because I respect animals and I knew I couldn't continue living with my meat eating self after I read that awful thing (yes that's still a secret) all those years ago. I'm not an anarchist, but I also don't approve meat eating, fur farms nor animal testing. That is my point of view and the only 'radical' thing I do is I don't eat meat, I have pledged to be fur free and I don't use cosmetic products of companies that test on animals.

So to those people who still have such strong stereotypes about people like vegetarians, punks or hippies I say, WAKE UP! C'mon, that is all in the past. I personally judge people based on how well I know them (yeah we all judge and you know it). I never judge someone I've just met, I take time to get to know them and come to a conclusion later. I can only hope that there are people out there who feel the same way.

And I especially wish for people not to be so prejudice about me, based on the fact that I am a vegetarian and I don't endorse animal testing. As a future artist I believe that my art should speak for itself. And if a future employer sees it to turn my application down, they do it based on my qualification and not because of what I write here. Cheers!

Telephone. Copyright 2011 H.M

So, onto my actual work now. I have been working on 'Mind Machine' for a little over a year. I began in 2010 developing rough sketches based on common fears and nightmares. I chose fears and nightmares because of this a-may-zaah thing I saw in a very popular game that came

Nightmare Sketch nr. 3. 2010 Copyright H.M

out in 2009. I used various black markers to draw and then coloured the drawings with aquarelles. The nightmare about drowning on the left is actually one of the first sketches I made for MM. That big fat marker (bubbles) was waterproof whilst most of the thin tip markers were not. I covered the blank areas with water before applying colour (<- this is one of my favourite methods to apply colour quickly, this method also highlights the spontaneity of aquarelles). I ment the sketches to be a simple exercise before moving onto making large oil colour paintings. During my personal tutorial in December 2010 my tutors actually liked these sketches better than the oil paintings I had made so far. Thus I decided to create purely aquarelle paintings for my final project. I realized that aquarelles actually captured that dream-like states and elements much better than heavy oil colours. In early 2011 I moved on to develop my skills in aquarelle painting and creating the idea behind 'Mind Machine'. The style you see in this project comes naturally to me. It basically just happens. I do plan which areas I want to paint, and how I'm going to achive, for ex. the darkness vs. lights in a nightclub. But all in all, I am quite spontaneous when I paint (sometimes the finished look is the product of the mood I was in whilst painting). I used to try to keep myself under control and I kept reaching for the perfect combination and realistic look. However I realized that this 'painting from an impulse' as I like to call it, comes much more naturally to me and I believe that that's what is going to draw people to my work.

Like I said on my website, 'Mind Machine' stands for everything I have seen, heard, experienced, dreamed of or thought of. It used to picture just dreams, nightmares and fears (mostly drawn from my own dreams) but it took a turn to more personal when I started including my interpretations of for ex. stories I've read once and events I wish would have turned out differently. I think it was after 'The Age of Violence' mini series and 'Hell Carousel' when I came to realize that bit by bit I was revealing things about myself and my point of views. All of the sudden I had created 'Beautiful Fighters 1-4' (mini series) all because I had had a really strong reaction to 'Sucker Punch'. The idea of that movie seemed so awesome, but when I saw the trailer and learned what the girls would have to do in order to get into that imaginary world, I felt so betrayed. My first thought was 'Soft porn for 12 year old boys! This is how you make money these days, put girls in short skirts fighting some monsters and you have got yourself a money-movie.' I got so mad and painted 'Beautiful Fighters'. Funny story, my tutor (male) totally got the idea behind this series We had a really good laugh. And later when I met Nina from Movement gallery she told me her youngest son also totally went for the series because 'it had girls in stockings and dinosaurs'. His comment truly delighted me That's what I really want from my viewers, reactions. That they respond to my work and draw their own conclusions (even if some of the paintings reprisent specific things). It would be awesome the hear people's interpretations of my paintings.


After BF anything was game, I painted my dreams, my friend's dreams, my childhood fears and so on. I have very weird dreams O_o I dream almost every night and I remember them almost everytime (traces if nothing else). I have nightmares maybe 3 times a year. I reckon dreams are a good source for inspiration because they're so bizarre, but they are also very humanistic in their own way. In my dissertation I argue that dreams and nightmares are driven from our thoughts. They are our wishes and things we have seen and experienced. And we haven't even need to have experienced them, it could be something that we saw on the telly or read in a book, and for some reason our mind totally went for it (aka my awesome dream including me and a few boys from the Akatsuki....and no, wasn't that kind of a dream just awesome action stuff). 

Currently I have included a few very personal point of views about several causes into MM. I just realized that people are actually interested in what other people have to say about things. I'm interested in what other people have to say about things. This project has helped me to channel my opinions into paintings. My art is my portal for reaching out to people. Although most of it has imaginary elements and some of the severe and naughty paintings are actually ment to be tongue-on-cheek. I sometimes get a little humorous. Some of my work should be viewed as funny, not shocking. Whilst I was invigilating 'Shift' (our year show) an older lady came to me to talk about MM. Her interpretation was toootally different from what I'd intended the project to be about. Back then MM was just imaginary, I didn't ment it to be taken so seriously. It was just a bit of fun, but it's as serious as art goes. However the lady raised some very interesting points, and when I got back to Helsinki, and went to our cabin in the country almost straight away, I began to develop ideals I wanted to present in MM. Surprise, surprise I decided to tackle sex first On the side, I like to think that MM is also a very vain project and celebrates narcissism to some extend. I'm sure my friends have something to say about that. Now I'll explain the dream or the meaning behind a few paintings in MM.

Odette/Odile, Sensitive girl/Sultry girl phenomenon 3/4. Copyright 2011 H.M

Odette and Odile is a mini series I completed in October 2011. I consider this series as one of my 'genious' moments. It consists of 4 paintings and its inspiration is driven from Tšaikovski's ballet 'Swan Lake' (random note: I danced ballet for 6 years, but I never got to dance in Swan Lake. I danced in Snow Queen though). This series presents my ideas of the battle between the sensitive girl and the sultry girl, and the ultimate female type that men prefer. I was thinking about the story in Swan Lake and it got me a little mad. The Prince falls in love with the sensitive and ever so fragile Odette, who has no sense of independence what so ever (well she is Rothbart's captive, however to me she still represents that female who is never going to get anything done by herself). Later he falls in love with Odile, Rothbart's daughter whom he has commanted to seduce and trick the prince. When the prince discovers the truth, he rushes back to Odette (Odile is really Odette is what many interpretations say, so because he couldn't deal with her confidence he immediately prefers the weak Odette?) This got to me personally. For I am nothing like Odette, I'm the confident, independent, sultry female who knows her mind, the exact female type most men are afraid of (you probably noticed how bitter I am about this already). In short, the confident female can't win. It's like 'the nice guys finish last', good guys don't get girls and bad girls don't get guys at all. Hence us girls should be more like Odette, completely useless yet incedibly pretty and fragile to get the man of our dreams. I had a furious conversation with my BFF and I demanded the he told my why men would choose such a girl. His answer is too long for this entry. ( Funny story, my female friend and I were talking about a similar matter in the summer and I told her about this poll I had read from an evening magazine. 'What kind of a woman, does the Finnish man want?' Over 70% had answered 'normal'. Just imagine our heads going down anime style, we got no chance.)

Transformation. Copyright 2011 H.M

 Transformation is a dream I had when I was 14 maybe 15. It was a really long dream but it ends in this cave at the fortress of Suomenlinna, on the coast of Helsinki (very popular tourist and trip place). It is very cold in the cave and I see this bird on the ceiling. I try to capture him to help him to keep warm. Eventually I get him and I put him inside my jacket. After a while the bird emerges from underneath my jacket, but he is no longer a bird, but some rodent/weasel animal. Note that the big boobs are just for fun, I was feeling humorous when I made this.

Dystopia. Tolerance ❤ Race 2/3. Copyright 2011 H.M

 OMG this series is one of my favourites! And I am actually very jealous of it. I'm not sure if I wanna sell it, but keep it myself. This is the series I made right after I had moved back to Helsinki. All 3 paintings represent the tolerance of sex (in different countries). I am using Japan and Finland as an example. The 3rd one is overall sensitive subject hence hardly tolerated by the society. Okay so the first one addresses Finland's attitude towards sex. It is accepted to some extend. We hardly censor sex scenes from our movies and tv-series, and any sexy stuff on the telly starts after 9pm. Alas talking about sex, looking like sex in public, is a little taboo. You won't be running into people who are reading a sex graphic novel in public, or dressed very revealingly in Finland. (Personally I'm not that coy). Another level of this first painting is what I like to call 'girl on girl crime'. Not only can men be a pain in the ass, but for women, other women are pain in the ass too. In my opinion girls can be so cruel, more cruel than men to be frank. When it comes to planning and mental bullying women come out as champions. This kind of girl on girl crime, or in addition, girl on girl attraction is still very hidden (just ignore L word just for a sec okay). People don't talk about it, even if they are aware of it. However in a way, the idea of girl on girl attraction is interesting and inspiring. (I'm not saying that boy on boy attraction isn't, I just chose to use girls in this series).
  
  The second painting deals with Japan. I have been interested and in love with Japan since I was 14. It pretty much began when I started reading manga and watching anime. Soon I was reading books about Japanese culture and learning Japanese (Isshoni ganbarimashou!). Anyways this painting loosely deals with the acceptance of sex. What I have come to know about Japan's attitude towards sex is that everything goes. I hear that a man who gropes women on a train can be between 12-83 years old. Very liberal I say, not to mention people seriously read porn comics on a bus. I reckon as sexy as the japanese people's attitude towards sex is, their society is still very male dominant. The second part is recognizing this fact. Women (and not only japanese women but women everywhere) totally buy it, the male domination. As sexy as dominant men are, I still think men and women ought to be recognized as equals all the way.
   
  And the third painting deals with the absolue, male submission. It's about men who like to be dominated by women. Personally I chuckle a little at this subject, I just find it funny and fascinating when men go looking for services from the dominatrixes or ask their girlsfriends/wifes to spank them etc. A mixture of fetishes and S&M. And these men are completely hidden, they won't be telling their friends over a pint about what their girlfriend just finished doing to them. While women can say that they enjoy a little S&M, men would never say that they like to get beaten by their significant other. The second meaning though, deals with spouse abuse. Every now and then I see an article about a man beating his girlfriend/wife. But I very very very rarely see an article about a woman beating her man. Sure I have read a few articles and watched a document on the subject, but still this isn't that common. Even if it sounds a bit funny, a man complaining that his wife beats him or forces sex on him, it is a serious matter. Fortunately, the man in the third painting, likes to be tied down and beaten.

The Age of Violence 1/3. Copyright 2011 H.M

I saved 'Violence' for last. The only thing I have to say about this series is that it tells of a true event that happened to me. I'd say this series is 90% true and 10% hopeful wishing. I used sea salt to create the pattern on the roses.

I am actually quite honest in my paintigs. I give you things that I like and what I don't like, what my subconscious is giving me and what other people have given me.

I'm using Winsor & Newton aquarelles and gouaches on MM and sometimes I use sea salt to create patterns and to give the painting some definition. Painting methods I normally use are: mixing the colour in my little palette and then apply it on dry or wet paper or I apply colour on the paper straight from the cake. One of my previous methods was to paint very thickly, but I rarely use that method anymore. That method usually takes the fluidity of aquarelles away. 

 Hope you enjoyed my little rationale. I'll keep on working on my art and if you are interested in hearing the meaning or the story behind any painting on MM, post a comment below and I'll tell you Purchasing original art works is agreed through e-mail (or if you want to do it in person come to Helsinki), the address is on my website. I DO accept commissions as well!


Until next time! H.M