Finnish artist, Kreetta Järvenpää, makes flower arrangements that look like they are straight out of an enchanted, lush fairy tale. But that is just one of her many artistic talents. Kreetta shoots portraits, illustrates, paints, directs videos as well as poses some interesting still life pieces. As if her hobbies aren’t cool enough, she works corporately for magazines, companies, & artists alike, showcasing her fabulous talents all around Finland.
She has a Master of Arts degree from the University of Lapland in Finland and since then, she’s been continuing to study many kinds of things like cinema, television, art history, media, photography, and communication, truly expanding her creative mind.
If you’re wondering what Kreetta is doing, it’s probably something involving FLOWERS! Art Zealous spent a moment with this budding artist to chat about everything from her gorgeous arrangements to her peaceful portraits.
Art Zealous: Hometown?
Kreetta Järvenpää: Helsinki, Finland.
AZ: Astrological sign?
KJ: Aquarius
AZ: What are your influences?
KJ: At the moment, I’m inspired by Dutch Golden Age still life works from influential painters, especially in my flower works and photography. I enjoy following plenty of floral designers like The Blue Carrot. I am obsessed with Dietlind Wolf’s styling and photography as well as Finnish ceramic artist Rut Bryk. I also love surrealism.
In painting, I adore Helen Frankenthaler, Helene Schjerfbeck (Finnish artist) and so many other talented artists.
AZ: How has your practice changed over time?
KJ: First I photographed, then started painting and constructing clay work, and then finally flowers. They all come together in my latest exhibition.
AZ: You have a variety of art in your portfolio; i.e. flower arrangements, painting, still life, & video. Which is your favorite medium?
KJ: At the moment it is flowers – both assembling arrangements and photographing flowers.
AZ: You take many portraits, how do you choose who to shoot? How is the creative process different when shooting models or friends?
KJ: I work for magazines, companies, artists & more so portraits are considered “work” for me – how I earn money. But at the moment, I have a new project showcasing a process where I combine flowers and portraits with only one person. When shooting models, it’s purely work orientated.
AZ: What themes do you pursue in your work?
KJ: I pursue beauty and meaning. I’ve heard someone say that I take only beautiful photos and that is not enough – meaning there isn’t any substance in my photos. I think beauty is not only vain. We have always enjoyed beautiful things around us – starting from nature – that is the most beautiful thing in the world.
AZ: If your paintings were music, what would they sound like?
KJ: If my paintings were music it would be cool if they sounded like baroque. I would love my art as music to create a cool atmosphere and of course, like all artists hope, I’d want my work to touch people in different meaningful ways.
AZ: Currently working on?
KJ: At the moment, I have one photography project coming up; I’ll also start to paint in new themes. I had a successful exhibition in May, so I’m trying to find another home for it to revisit the show. I also began to grow flowers this past spring. I hope I can use some of them in my flower works in August or September when it’s blooming time.
AZ: What can we expect to see from you in the future?
KJ: I love the idea of an exhibition with different mediums like I had in May – displaying paintings, photographs, ceramics and flower arrangements. I’d like to add installations as well. And you will see more flowers, I’m afraid, and maybe videos.
Follow Kreetta on Instagram.
Images provided by the artist.
