The Tropical Dystopian World of Timo Vaitinen

Ever been kept up at night bawling over the fact there aren't enough paintings of bongs and pizza boxes out there? Well, set fire to your cocktail dish of Cipramil and sleeping pills, because Timo Vaittinen is on it. Timo paints stuff like warlocks playing psychedelic chess and his latest exhibition, Keys Open Doors, opened its doors (see what I did there?) last Friday at SIC Space in Helsinki.

Showcasing new paint and ink works, the new series is far weirder than Timo's previous collections, based on an imaginary post-apocalyptic world and seeking out their own brand of spiritualism. Garfield hangs out in a tropical rainforest, tribal dancers dance tribally in front of horned gods and an alien head tops a multi-layer cake.

With all the allusions to DIY, hallucinogens and that strange kind of mystical symbolism that seemed to dominate youth subcultures in the 80s, you'd have thought that Helsinki-based Timo would be confined to the underground of Finland's small arts community. But he's not – he's been exhibited at proper, top museums like the KIASMA Museum of Contemporary Art and the Pori Art Museum, among others.

While Timo was at the Malmö Nordic 2013 exhibition last weekend, he took some time out to chat about Finnish comics, psychedelics and kids' TV.

VICE: I always feel like I've taken something weird when I'm looking at your Majestic Pizza Wizards. Why all the colour and surrealism?
Timo Vaittinen: I've had my experiences with psychedelic substances, but the work isn't really coming from there. Lately, I've been taking inspiration from kids' TV. I watch it with my two-year-old son and some of them are mind-blowing. I take inspiration from a lot of sources and one of them is the visual interpretation of the psychedelic experience and the subcultural imagery related to it.

I try to use this visual vocabulary for my own purposes, and it has a special meaning for me as a representation of freedom – an alternative way of thinking and living, and a promise of a better future. In the works, there are a lot of allegorical or symbolic meanings that are important to me and related to what the work is about. Even though lots of aspects of the "psychedelic revolution" can be questioned and are a bit naive, the visuals of the movement have a symbolic meaning for me in my work.
 
So, your new show at SIC Space in Helsinki is called Keys Open Doors. What's the new work about?
I had a vague storyline in my mind about a dystopian future, where everything on Earth has been destroyed and only a small population is left to form a new civilisation. All history and the things that are happening today are erased from the collective memory of the surviving population and this group of survivors and their heritage finds bits and pieces here and there from the time before the apocalypse, as in the time we're currently living in.

Trippy.
This new mankind has a natural need for spirituality, and with the pieces they find from our time, they try to form a new visual vocabulary to express their spirituality. And this quest for spiritual images in the dystopian future is where these new paintings came from. But, in the end, it’s not important, neither for me or the viewer of my work, to know this. When you look at the work, you can concentrate on the narrative side of the works, or you can also look at them as a play of form and colour. Or a combination of those and just feel the paintings. In these new paintings, the materiality of paint itself has played a bigger role in creating the works. Previously, I've used cut-outs from magazines and paint and glossy epoxy resin together, but now it’s just paint and ink.

 
What's it like being a painter in Finland?
Contemporary arts in general aren't very appreciated in Finland. The general opinion seems to be: "If I don't understand it, it's crap." On the other hand, because we're a small nation and the local art market is very small, arts are supported by the government and other institutions. You can make things happen. At the same time, the gallery scene is very narrow. You can count the professionally-run commercial galleries on the fingers of one hand. This town is in need of a few new professionally-run galleries.
 
I see. What else do you hope for?
Well, the arts scene is quite locally-based, so it would be nice to have a more international presence of artists and artworks in Helsinki. The bigger institutions have some nice shows from time to time and there are international residency programs, but there should also be more international cooperation on a lower level, like gallery shows and projects.

What about the other way round? Like, getting your art seen on an international level.
Yeah, it's a good place to make art, but working professionally as a visual artist, one should reach for international exposure, too. Otherwise we'll just be running in a closed circle here, which isn't good for the development and quality of art. There are so many good artists in Finland and the best thing is to be able to work with some of them. If you want something nice to happen, it's better to just do it yourself or with a group of people. I find it an advantage that artists here can work together and not compete against each other so much.

Typically, the contemporary "high art" world gets more respect than comics. Do you think it’s the opposite in Finland?
I don't think so, no. There's just been a trend lately to show comic artists in art museums. Alternative comics are still underground, but they get more exposure now. I think one reason that comics are on the table at the moment is because people have realised that it's good stuff and also well-respected internationally. That happens a lot here; something is there right under your eyes the whole time, but people only understand it's something valuable when someone else tells them so.

Timo Vaittinen's Keys Open Doors runs until June the 2nd at SIC Space in Helsinki, Finland. Find out more about Timo on his website.

Follow Nadja on Twitter: @nadjasayej

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