Circle of Life

2023
Ceramic installation, including 5 lying figures, 10 standing figures, and about 100 small ceramic works of animals and plants
Diameter of 260cm

Born 1985 in Västerås. Currently lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden.

Joakim Ojanen’s artwork embodies the inner child within all of us. He creates a deeply personal universe full of unique characters that automatically win the heart of the viewer with their sincerity. His paintings and ceramic sculptures capture genuine moments of human expression. When grouped together they create delicate and emotionally charged narratives. With a touch of humor, they manage to hit an intense spot in the human psyche, perhaps a subconscious yearning for adolescence; the desire to belong. Piece by piece each of Ojanen’s works tells a story about finding one’s way in the world and reminds us it’s okay to be ourselves.

Ojanen’s distinct and organic path as an artist began through graffiti, which was a creative outlet that intrigued his interests in other mediums of art, including animations, short films, and music videos. He also pursued drawing, publishing fanzines and organizing art shows. These endeavors led to his enrollment in the Illustration and Graphic Design program at Konstfack, University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. After a couple of years, seeking a new hobby, Ojanen signed up for a ceramics open studio session outside of school. It was during these sessions that he started to make sculptures from his drawings.

Ojanen has fostered an extensive understanding of his materials. In fact, it is his relationship with paint and clay that guide him in each of his creations. He embarks on making his portrait paintings by first drawing a small sketch. Bringing it to the canvas, he aims to make his idea come alive. To start his sculptures Ojanen goes straight to the clay. Once the process is initiated he then allows it to take the lead until a finished piece emerges.

Ojanen’s iconography is reminiscent of a comic book language. In pictorial terms, his artwork hints at the works of Philip Guston, Keith Haring and at times the Surrealist paintings of Salvador Dali. However Ojanen states, ‘It’s dangerous to look at one artist too much.’ Instead, a framework of emotions structures Ojanen’s introverted creative process. ‘I work a lot with feelings. I would say that is the main core of my work. It’s about finding the right posture, the right eyes, smile and so on, (in order) to capture something I couldn’t make up in my mind. It’s about trying until I get something that feels right.’