Kalle Turakka Purhonen
Porvoo Paintings
13.1.-5.2.2023
I was born in Porvoo and, after some twenty years in Helsinki, I am now living here again. Through “Porvoo Paintings”, I wanted to get to know my old hometown again and learn to paint with watercolors. I paint my works based on observations, on the spot while looking at the subject, then finishing them off at my studio, perhaps slightly relying on my recollections. There is a long tradition of landscape painting using watercolors, but I see my works as today’s art, as a way to observe my environment based on my personal experiences. As I am not a trained or skillful landscape painter, I was not afraid of getting stuck in any academic pretentiousness. It also helps if I try to paint sufficiently difficult things. I try to paint an urban landscape with the passing people and cars that definitely belong there. I try not to work on them any more than I actually remember. When the planning of watercolor layers became too organized, I was glad that winter and poor weather arrived. I was only able to paint very quick paintings and the watercolors were difficult to control. The colors froze and melted, snow fell on the paper and my fingers, and the snow ploughs kept changing the landscape. Everything is filtered through my choices, skills and temperament. It is about loving the visible world.
This exhibition at Galleria Huuto is part of a larger series of works that has been on display in Porvoo. You can find the entire series at www.kalleturakkapurhonen.com under “Drawings/Paintings” > “Porvoo Paintings”.
