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Inventory Series
"As an artist, do not wait for an inspiration, draw what is in front of you." This is how the inventory series started several years ago. I was drawing something familiar, something that I knew, my own things - everyday items; hats, belts, shoes, even socks. I arranged them in piles of similar items and to me these realistic scenes were abstract scenarios, nostalgic yet modern, and fun to do. I realized, that these items told stories of my life. I was literally clearing the closets and was in for a ride. I had fun naming the pieces. "Last Dance And The Morning After" was a pile of hats. "One Way With A Round Trip Ticket" was a drawing with suitcases. "Size 7" was a pile of shoes. "Excess Baggage" was a drawing of handbags and a brief case - a remnant of my 15 years in a corporate life before declaring myself an artist.
One day the idea struck me to draw my clothes hanging on their hangers, side by side on the rack, as seen when opening the closet doors. I started to draw my life, one sleeve at a time. Garments that had not been worn for years had their own place in a drawing - winter clothes, summer clothes, bright colors in between the dark ones. I totally enjoyed the process of seeing my life unfold on the paper in front of me. I was working with pastel on small separate narrow sheets of paper - fast without thinking - just letting the colors flow in their own way. After a while, I laid all the drawings onto the floor, side by side, to see them clearly. Looking at the colorful completed pieces I realized, to my astonishment, not only had I relived the roles of my recent life, I also had returned to my roots. This colorful strip of stripes was like a woven rag rug, traditionally woven on a loom in my native country, Finland.
As long as I could remember, my mother and other women in my family had cut old clothes into strips to weave rugs on a loom. I had not woven on a loom ever and I had left Finland twenty-five years ago to live a different life. Yet there in front of me was a colorful "rug" so familiar, and I had done it my way with clothes - line by line, with art, without knowing it. I have left Finland, but Finland has not left me. My heritage and roots have followed me where ever I am.
It has been said that if you want to work on your art, work on your life. My experience clearly demonstrates the power of tradition. Art has helped me to make peace with all I am and with all I have.