Hello,
I am Sesilja, an artist from Finland. I grew up in a small farmhouse surrounded by forest and developed a deep love for nature and animals from an early age.
My artwork reflects both the lost and remaining wild nature of my homeland, and our shifting relationship with it in an increasingly artificial world, where the distance between us and that which is wild continues to grow.
I’m inspired by the forest and the rich, intricate life it holds. Ideas for paintings come from what I see and feel among the trees, from a reverence for the quiet wisdom they carry, and from the poems and folk tales woven around them.
I mainly work with watercolor and gouache, often layered together. I love the rugged softness that is achieved by working with water. Pure white paper feels a bit like a nemesis, which is why I tend to tone my papers in order to achieve a nice warm base to build on.