Marika Pentikainen
Silent Step, Alexandra Canal, 2018
Photography, Fine Art Print, Limited edition of 15
Print: 35.5cm (W) x 28cm (H)
Framed Print: 48cm (W) x 40cm (H)
About the artist
I was born in Finland in the late seventies, surrounded by snow and the glow of gaudy wallpaper. I grew up in a small town called Jyvaskyla and then grew up some more in Helsinki, the capital. Today, I’m continuing on my life’s journey exploring Asia through photography. My aim is to take photos of ordinary people in their every day lives and through it get to know different cultures and history. I travel between Singapore, US and Finland which all I can call my home.
I’m inspired by people and especially by what we can’t easily see – human destinies, tensions between people, feeling threatened, and things like sensuality, love, friendship, family ties, nurturing and caring for others.
I’ve studied photography in Finland and the United States. Now I combine Art photography and what I have learned in self-study, and I continue to learn. The way we experience, feel and see the world isn’t always something we can learn just from books or from the brand name of our camera. Successful photography, for every living and breathing individual, is based on our thoughts and how we guide our thoughts from the inside of our mind out into the world for everyone to see and experience visually.
About the artwork
A silent step, and in the silence a moment’s reflection. A man walks straight ahead. His hands flow rhythmically by his sides, down towards the pavement. The same pavement that binds the man’s feet to itself in that same step. The man is carrying a round bag. A bag the man carries every day with the same firm grip. A grip that people call the grip of life. The man’s head is bowed, but his mind is not. His mind is full of the joys of everyday, ordinary life. The joy of being able to walk the same path every day in his own confident way. He is the freedom of his own moment. The freedom that lives in the silent reflection of its own life.
Framing
Single mat board with deep-set charcoal frame design, TruVue UltraVue glazing that is anti-reflective with up to 70% UV protection.