Pauliina Turakka Purhonen: “The most important thing I learned was that there is always a way out of a dead end.”

Pauliina Turakka Purhonen, The Fall of Man. Wooden part carved by Tapani Kokko.

Painting teacher Pauliina Turakka Purhonen encourages her students to remember that there is always another maker, another viewer nearby—someone whose work can offer insight and clarity when self-doubt or creative blindness strikes.

What is the most important thing you learned in art school?

“The most important thing was learning that there’s a way out of a dead end. During my final year and immediately after, my painting reached an increasingly tight impasse. But then I found an unexpected way out—through colourful, hand-sewn sculptures.”

What is the most important thing you want to teach your students?

“I want to teach them that there is always someone nearby—another artist, another observer—whose work might help you see things differently when you’re stuck or uncertain. That someone might be sitting in the same classroom, or they might be speaking across centuries through a work that happens to reach you at just the right time.”

Why do you paint?

“The best thing about painting is how thoughts, problems, solutions, and emotions—everything—can open up on a (usually) flat surface, all visible at once. And the image remains; you can always return to it.

As a painter, that’s also quite intimidating. You ask yourself why you’d put yourself through the ordeal of flaying yourself alive, when sculpture could offer more ways to hide. I suppose it’s the thrill of the process—and the fact that you can’t hide from yourself while painting—that keeps pulling me back.”

Whose student would you have liked to be?

“I would have loved to be a student of Rogier van der Weyden for a while.”

What’s the best thing about the Free Art School?

“The Free Art School is small—everyone knows each other. It’s important to learn painting among people you know and trust.”