Hi there! I’m Tarja Poikonen, the artist behind this art website.

My work explores the fragility of human existence and the quiet wisdom of the earth. I am fascinated by how time, memory, and perception intertwine — how what we build and what we remember are both constantly reshaped.

I paint intuitively, layer by layer, allowing the surface to evolve like geological time. Each layer conceals and reveals, creating a tactile landscape of traces and silence.

For me, painting is a form of listening — to matter, to movement, to the invisible forces that shape our inner and outer worlds. Through abstraction, I seek to express the subtle balance between permanence and transience, strength and fragility, reality and imagination.

My artistic journey started when I was around four years old. My parents thought I might have some artistic talent and enrolled me in an art school — which may have been one of the biggest influences on my artistic identity. Painting especially became very important to me, and I spent hours just brushing up my technique. My focus was on creating the most realistic paintings I could — sometimes with success, sometimes not.

As an adult as the years went by, I painted less and less, probably because my technically focused approach no longer inspired me, and I moved on to other art forms.

Lately, I’ve felt a true calling to create something more intuitive — and turned to abstract art. I spent hours painting things I just wanted to burn. At the same time, I felt that some works were just waiting to be created — so I kept going. The result is what you're seeing here.

Thank you for joining — and feel free to message me!