Riikka Airikki Kauppila

I'm Riikka Koo, a self-taught 35 year old artist hailing from the Northern Finland. I was drawn to art immediately after grasping the pencil and the brush in my hands for the very first time in my early years, and have been at it ever since, trying to create and experiment by painting using different techniques to develop fresh and intriguing work. 

After working with aquarelle, inks and graphic arts in the beginning I finally found acrylic painting to best suit my style of creation and so it has been my main choice of method for some time now. I would describe my painting process to initially start by simply just imagining a color spectrum on a blank canvas and awaiting the colors to reveal themselves. The outcome is dependent on the general feel and state of mind and body, and very often proves to surprise even myself in the end, thus keeping things interesting. 

In conclusion, always when painting I strive to achieve a delicate balance between colors, textures and shapes to complement the final image, whether abstract or somewhat portraying. Painting is a necessity to me, it's deep in my nature and it provides constant change. It gives me the freedom to be who I am, and challenges me in a way nothing else does.