Statement by Kira Leskinen

I seek clear forms. I create compositions where colors play a key role – red moves towards, yellow stays still and black becomes a void. In my work process I combine traditional collage-like technique, paper stencils, light and motion with the possibilities of different digital image scanning devices, such as flatbed scanners and smartphone scanning applications. The technique is known as scanography.

My interest lies in the field of abstraction, color and sound – especially in how the concepts of silence, repetition, rhythm and improvisation can be applied in visual art. How does the combination of red and yellow sound in the ears? How does it feel on the tongue? I'm inspired by synesthesia, a condition in which one type of stimulation evokes a sensation of another. In my case, a color combination triggers a sound or a syllable. I apply these auditory sensations to my working process by translating them into image titles.

I rely greatly on play, improvisation and chance. The motions I create during the scanning process – lifting, pushing, and turning the paper – generate a variety of digital errors and distortions in the scanned images. These visual twists give the works their final form and character. In the series Scanographs (2014-2017) I look for vivid color combinations and uncompromised formal solutions similar to the works of Ellsworth Kelly and Carmen Herrera, yet with less rigorous approach. 



For the series, Rhythmus (2019-) I have taken inspiration from the multi-layered working process of woodblock printing and applied it to my scanner-based work. The focus is on rhythm and duration – each of these works is a song played with colors and forms. Then again, my most recent series, Folds (2020-) is all about the illusion of three-dimensionality created with light, color and texture.