Interview with Rauha Mäkilä at Päijät-Hämeen Tekstiilihuolto

January 27, 2018

The inspiring people in our Spring and Summer 2018 collection look book represent through their upfront work in fashion, art, music and economy a way of being that is daring and vulnerable – TRANSPARENT. The work of Rauha Mäkilä, a prominent Finnish visual artist, has been influencing our design with her powerful portraits. The paintings show roughness, vulnerability and even violence, that opens up new layers beneath the colorful surfaces of contemporary pop culture that Mäkilä's work is know of. For the look book photo shoot, we invited Mäkilä to visit one of our Finnish partners, who collects the raw materials of TAUKO production, with us.

***

RAUHA MÄKILÄ

Visual artist

DESCRIBE YOUR BACKGROUND:

I graduated from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2007. After my graduation I have had several solo exhibitions and I have taken part in group exhibitions both in Finland and abroad.

WHAT DOES TRANSPARENCY MEAN TO YOU?

The question of transparency feels very broad; it carries so many points of view that it cannot be squeezed into a couple of sentences.

DOES FASHION AFFECT YOUR WORK?

I love browsing through magazines, also fashion magazines. I might be infatuated by the colours or a unique composition of a photo that I find. It can then become the source of inspiration for me.

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO COMMENT FASHION WITH YOUR WORK?

I do not really comment, criticise or idolise fashion in my work. I use it as a source of inspiration, I get a crush on it and I exploit it. Though sometimes I do question the traditional way on how fashion places and objectifies people.