30.7. – 23.8.2026

The original “Son of a Pizza” is a sculpture I made in 2014. I glued together a stack of used pizza boxes and carved a self-portrait into this structure with utility knives. “Son of a Pizza” was typical of my sculptures at the time. I collected all kinds of everyday waste, wondering what I could do with it. How could I preserve the original materials while allowing them to grow into something new? After successfully creating the pizza box sculpture, I kept collecting boxes, and now, more than ten years later, I finally have enough to make a full-length self-portrait.

Sometimes the problem with old good ideas is that the spark of inspiration may have shifted elsewhere. Over the years, I grew tired of transforming trash into art and rediscovered the joy of painting. I did not want to interrupt my flow, so I decided to start preparing for the sculpture by making watercolor self-portraits.

For the past six years, I have worked mainly with watercolor. Painting offers a greater sense of freedom than most other areas of life. It is physical and intense, yet it also requires time and quiet concentration. It is intellectual, but not linguistic. I paint directly based on my observations. My own expression enters into dialogue with the surrounding world through painting. It has something in common with the collages made from recycled materials.

After spending a great deal of time painting outdoors and in the city, it felt good to move indoors and make nude self-portraits for this exhibition.

A nude portrait shows a person in an intimate and private way, while at the same time, when clothing is removed, all individuals are placed on an equal footing. The unique is actually a common image type. Perhaps because of my age, my gender or Finland’s sauna culture, nudity does not feel embarrassing to me. Being naked at home feels natural and comfortable. Painting flesh and skin is fun. I cannot and do not try to control the expressions in my self-portraits. Therefore, the paintings are glimpses of a person who is sometimes excited and sometimes doubtful, sad or serene. During the painting process, self-examination first recedes into a mere challenge of perception and a technical interest. Gradually, through the images, the person behind the eyes begins to emerge.

On the way towards the pizza box sculpture, I increased the size of my watercolors. I abandoned colors and made several works using only ink and water. Before beginning the carving, I also produced full-scale charcoal studies. To me, these are the most embarrassing nudes in the exhibition – not because of how my belly or genitals look, but because my pursuits in terms of drawing are exposed in them. I am not a master at perceiving proportions. It has taken me a long time to learn how to make observation-based drawings without constantly worrying that they are completely wrong. You have to worry just enough so that it doesn’t go completely wrong, but then you have to focus on more pleasant things.

Creating a human-sized tower from pizza boxes was a complicated technical challenge. On the due date for this press release, the exhibition is more than a month away, and the creation of the new Son of a Pizza sculpture is still an adventure. I don’t know whether I have what it takes to make it, apart from my curiosity. This exhibition of self-portraits is also a self-portrait of being an artist – intimidating ideals, growing self-knowledge, the importance of being able to work in peace, and how that peace can be found in unique, absurd projects.

Antti-Ville, Pasi and Sampsa, thank you for helping me with the structural solutions for the sculpture. Thanks to the Arts Promotion Centre Finland’s Arts Council of Uusimaa for supporting my work. And Pauliina, thank you for all your help along the way.

Kalle Turakka Purhonen
Porvoo, 14 June 2026