Raana Lehtinen Selected as Recipient of the Aïda Alliman Grant 2025

Raana Lehtinen shares thoughts on her current work and the grant.

What are you currently working on in painting?

I recently completed my postgraduate studies at the Academy of Fine Arts at the turn of the year. I’ve just finished a series of works that will be shown at Art Centre Salmela this coming summer, and I’m now beginning preparations for my solo exhibition at HAA Gallery in 2026.

I’m very grateful to the Vermeeriana Foundation for the support I’ve received, which allows me to focus full-time on painting for several months. I don’t work well under pressure or in a hurry, so it feels truly meaningful to have the time, space, and routine I need. I believe this will greatly contribute to the development of my upcoming paintings.

How would you describe your artistic process?

My current work explores the human place within the ecosystem, a subject I reflect on through my personal relationship with nature.

An important part of my process is moving through nearby forests and closely observing their fascinating details. During the warmer seasons, I draw and paint watercolours outdoors, but my oil paintings are created in the studio, based on my own photographs and memory.

I’m interested in how the passage of time can be depicted in painting — my works are not limited to a single moment or location, but often stretch across long periods and bring together multiple places within one image.

I also aim to recreate the experience of being within an environment, rather than merely observing it from a distance.

Alongside direct sensory observations, I include elements of inner reality in my paintings, which I see as an essential part of how we experience the world.

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Raana Lehtinen

• Helsinki, b. 1990

• Studies: Free Art School 2019, Academy of Fine Arts 2024