SAMPO APAJALAHTI: Private Melancholy

Sampo Apajalahti’s works are based on photographs, observational drawings and imagination. For him, photography and drawing are not only ways of perceiving the surrounding reality, but also forms of intuitive and sketch-like visual thinking. The finished paintings, by contrast, are the results of an extremely considered working process.

Apajalahti executes his works through multiple stages, first constructing collage-like combinations of several reference images, producing a precise sketch based on this material and later on revisiting these drawings and deciding whether to proceed to painting. The method is thus strongly shaped by both spontaneous emotional experiences and intellectual, material, and technical processes grounded in logical thinking. Apajalahti often returns to photographs and drawings made years earlier, discovering previously unnoticed visually interesting elements.

Apajalahti’s works are spatial studies combining narrative, observation of the environment, memories, imagination and references to art history. The visual points of departure for his paintings often stem from minor, easily overlooked details of everyday reality. When affected by these details, Apajalahti experiences a sense of meaningfulness, which in turn provides the initial impulse for the work. He creates figurative paintings using tape-based delineation, referring to abstract painting of the 1970s and 1980s. His working method involves extensive advance planning, measuring and calculating, and conventional brushwork, airbrush, and palette work form only one part of the overall painting process. “The appeal of painting lies largely in its ability to function as a unifying element for multiple layers of work and diverse visual sources”, Apajalahti states. The works are considered finished when there is no longer anything in them that seem to require particular correction. Simultaneously he considers the viewer’s personal interpretation, emotions and thoughts in front of the work to be essential. Apajalahti makes use of the digital world in his practice, but one of the central aims for him is to create a viewing experience that emphasizes the viewer’s presence and unhurried engagement. Through careful background research and a time-consuming painting process, he takes a stance on the current saturation of images and visual material.

Apajalahti has studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of the University of the Arts Helsinki and at the Pekka Halonen Academy. His works are included in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the Saastamoinen Foundation, the Finnish State, Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, Heino Art Foundation, as well as private collections. In 2024, Apajalahti was awarded the William Thuring Prize.