Published: 11.6.2026
Text: Eemil Tähtinen
Editing: Viestintätoimisto Jokiranta Oy

How did you become an artist?

I became interested in acting already in upper secondary school, and after graduating I also began to explore singing and songwriting. Writing my own songs about emotions, the world and human relationships deepened the way I perceive the world, and it felt like a meaningful way to have an impact.

My path as an artist has been diverse and rich: I have had the opportunity to perform as an actor, performance artist and musician. In recent years, I have focused on creating accessible performances, which has sparked my enthusiasm for making theatre for children.

My journey has included strong aspirations related to education as well as dreams of succeeding as an artist and actor. Dreaming – and later letting go of those dreams – has felt like an important process. I am grateful that I have found my own gentle way of approaching artistic work.

What is your relationship with nature like?

I feel that my relationship with nature is still in the process of being formed. In recent years, I have been learning to forage for mushrooms with friends and to spend time in the forest with genuine intention. From my friends I have learned a great deal about the importance of nature conservation and about concrete ways of contributing to it. Nature represents, for me, a place where one can be both a smaller and a larger version of oneself. One can be quiet together with nature, or be playful and multifaceted.

I carry a great deal of sorrow about the state of nature – about how brutally and harshly we have treated it and how we have become disconnected from it. I feel that actively grieving would be important for me in order to better understand, on a bodily level, what is truly at stake: how unnatural the condition of most of our natural environment has become. It feels necessary to truly sit with this, to give it time ¬¬– to dig deeper and to study.

Tell us a bit about your project that the Foundation is funding.

I received a grant from the Sakari Alhopuro Foundation to create the insect-themed children’s theatre performance Bug – Under Threat! (Ötökkä – Uhan alla!) for day-care aged children in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The tour took place in spring 2026, and I performed a total of 12 shows in different day-care centres, in their nearby forests.

Bug – Under Threat! tells the story of Lari, a bug who has lost their ability to fly and, together with the children, tries to regain the courage to fly again. Through art-based environmental education, the performance seeks to convey to children the importance and roles of insects, as well as the threat of species loss, using shared play and song. Themes include courage and biodiversity. Musician Otto Porkkala appears in the performance as the second performer.

What does art mean to you?

I love interaction when performing – I breathe it in and derive meaning and a strong, difficult-to-articulate sense of belief from it. When performing, I feel far more present and interested in life, ready to encounter people and challenges. Performing releases me from the mental spaces of everyday life into a more carefree state.

The significance of art for people has probably always been one of the most fundamental ways of loving and falling in love with life. It is also a means of processing various personal and societal challenges and joys. I think of art as a kind of hub of connectedness that brings together time, place, matter and beings into a unique dimension, within or at the edges of which it is possible to influence both one’s own and others’ thinking and well-being, and to act as a mirror and a creator of connection for the often fragmented experience of life.

The significance of art for people has probably always been one of the most fundamental ways of loving and falling in love with life.

What has been the greatest art experience of your life?

For me, the most impressive art experience was seeing the film Interstellar for the first time. It rooted me to my seat and helped me understand something about the world – its laws, its fragility and its infinity. It continues to guide my work and my way of being. After the screening, I remained seated in the cinema for 20 minutes, unwilling to return to the outside world, because I felt that once I left, I would never return to the same world again.

The world needs thought-provoking art. This blog series goes behind the art, featuring artists and works supported by the Sakari Alhopuro Foundation. In 2025, the art grants were awarded to artists who address aspects of climate change, biodiversity loss or the state of Finnish nature in their work.