What drives a young artist to leave New York and come all the way to Haukipudas, a considerably smaller town in nowhere northern Finland? Petra Kaminen-Mosher has heard this question before and smiles, “Yes, people keep on asking me that”.  

Her mother is a Finn, and the time was right back in autumn 2004 to try something different and move to Finland. Petra, a bachelor of fine arts (painting) from Boston University moved to Haukipudas in May 2006 and improved her Finnish in a fourth level course at the adult training centre of Oulu (OAAK). She understands about half of what people say in Finnish but has difficulties to speak it yet. Petra had originally moved to the Helsinki area with the intention of pursuing a master’s degree. She then reconsidered, because she is not fond of the current trend in painting there.  to, but later chose not to pursue a master’s degree at the Academy of Fine Arts, because she is not fond of the current trend in painting supported there. “Everybody does the same kind of work,” she says. “On top of that I couldn’t find a supplemental job in Helsinki, so I decided to change my environment.” The young painter has already had some of her works exhibited at shows in Finland, in co-operation with her mother, who is an artist as well. To check out the work of both mother and daughter please visit http://www.marjukkakaminen.net/

What are future perspectives for Petra here in Finland? “Well, having shows around the country and applying for grants,” she replies. The year 2007 looks good as at least eight exhibits of Petra Kaminen-Mosher are lined up. Among them is one in Rovaniemi at Galleria napa in July and one in Turku in September. The closest one to Oulu takes place from June to August at Galleria Jansson, Piehinki, Raahe.

Does Petra have a favourite Finnish artist? “I like Aleksi Gallen-Kallela, because of his very strong colours. The themes of many of his paintings are nationalistic. I also like Albert Edelfeld and Helene Schjerfbeck. Contemporary Finnish artists are still relatively unfamiliar to me and possibly to many others as well.” When asked about the museums in Oulu, Petra says that “they are not as numerous as in Helsinki, but of course Oulu is a much smaller town. On the other hand, art is received well even though the pool of artists could be smaller”. There are quite many artists in Oulu, especially hobby artists, and a lot of art courses at the evening schools.

Nowadays Petra Kaminen-Mosher works as she always has at home. “The only time I have been lucky enough to work in a studio was when I was at university in Boston,” she remembers. One of her greatest wishes is to have a studio of her own. Her prime media are oil paints, acrylic and watercolour. She describes her style as abstract and colourist. “I like the interaction of colours and organic forms. I take forms from nature and reduce them to an abstract level with the help of colours and depth.” There are some nice examples of Petra’s work on the abovementioned web address she shares with her mother.

What does this young artist still want to try? “I’d like to do portraiture again. I haven’t really done that since I was in school. Additionally, I would like to try some naturalistic painting too.”

In Petra’s opinion the frame shops in Oulu offer art for a wide audience. In the popular art market, cute and small seems to sell best. There is nothing wrong with that. Art is, after all, a matter of taste, but the variety on offer in the shops could certainly be greater.

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