Vappu Johansson: Gut Feeling

Porvoo Art Hall
Vappu Johansson
Gut Feeling
23.5.-29.6.25

I print images using circular copper plates. The round form bubbles, floats, and falls. It is sometimes light and sometimes heavy – as vast as space, but fits under a microscope.

When I apply the first layer of color, I don’t know the scale. Printmaking is both disciplined and unpredictable. What is done cannot be undone. The eye is trained to look for mistakes. I’ve strived for perfection, but have had to cover up smudges.

I get to play a game where all the pieces are round and the rules are written according to the terms of a closed circle. There is something intensely condensed in the roundness – as if something is forming deep in the center, ready to rise to the surface or explode.
At times, emerges creatures that will not become anyone’s ancestors.
The exhibition showcases intaglio prints created between 2023 and 2025. The work has been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.

Vappu Johansson studied at the Free Art School and University of Art and Design Helsinki, graduating with a Master of Arts degree in 1990. Her specialization in printmaking began at the Grafiris workshop in Helsinki. Johansson is a founding member of the Arabian Taidegraafikot ry (Arabia Printmakers Association), which runs a printmaking workshop, and she also works at the Helsinki Paper Workshop. She uses various intaglio techniques in her work.
Johansson has participated in numerous international exhibitions, and in 2014 she was nominated for the Queen Sonja Print Award. She has held solo exhibitions in Finland and abroad since 1993.