Artist Transforms Natural Landscapes Into Living Paintings

Multidisciplinarian Finnish artist Antti Laitinen is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki. His skills include sculpture, performance, installation, photography, and video. He claims he has been a visual artist for over 20 years, pushing the limits of creativity by portraying natural landscapes as real living paintings.  His main focus has been on forests and trees for the last 10 years, prior to which he worked with water. Since 2017, he has been working on his latest project, the ‘Broken Landscape’ series. This is the art of staging trees and bushes. However, rather than damage them he meticulously works to manipulate the branches and leaves to reveal geometric shapes, empty spaces and create surreal compositions. More info: Instagram | AnttiLaitinen.Com

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Laitinen told DeMilked that because he lives in the countryside, surrounded by forest he is constantly exposed to the environment. As a result of this, he draws a lot of inspiration from nature, stating, “When I look at the trees every day, they start to influence my art. A certain kind of absurd humour has often been part of my art. It used to play a bigger part but now it is somehow more hidden”.

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Speaking on his creative process, Laitinen claims that folding and pruning branches to give new perspectives isn't the difficult part. It’s getting ideas and thinking that takes the most time of all. He added, “Sometimes I might develop an idea for years before I'm happy with it. Then I start looking for ways to make the work happen. Then the realisation of the work begins. It usually takes a week to a month”.

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On completion of a project, Laitinen allows the forest to reclaim his artistic attempts. Knowing that eventually, nature will fill the void he created. Naturally transforming his human intervention and serving as a reflection on the passing of time.