I am a multidisciplinary artist, costume designer and creative writing student based in Helsinki, Finland. Playfulness is at the core of my work. For me play means malleable rules, voluntariness, finding by doing and reflecting, making mistakes and being inspired by them, and being guided by the process itself without presupposing an outcome.
In my art, play is intimately intertwined with recycled materials. Not only do I use recycled materials, I also let myself be inspired by what I stumble across. I seek not to dominate the material, but rather feel it and collaborate with it — sometimes even to the point of letting myself be dominated by it. I believe that this way something radically new can be disclosed and expressed.
Often my material is clothing and textiles. I work with methods that are called for by the situation and are driven by stories, characters and spaces. My most important tool is thinking, which I harness whenever the material itself asks for control.
Recurring themes in my work are character, play, abundance, outsiderness, girlhood, and the tensions between impulse and control.
ONERVA LUOMA 