Matti Pietari Järvinen
Making art—everything else is a waste of time
Matti Pietari Järvinen is a visual artist whose works give the human mind a face, colors, and, at times, a very direct gaze. He works with painting, sculpture, performance, and animation, but does not limit his painting to canvas alone. Matti’s imagery can also appear on people, clothing, musical instruments, and other surfaces.
Järvinen’s art revolves around pain, love, otherness, and the mysteries of the mind. Her figures are simple only at first glance. Beneath the surface, there seems to be something familiar and something strange, as if they were simultaneously people, masks, and inner states of mind. The strong outlines, bright colors, and sharp contrasts do not seek to please. They come at you and demand a reaction.
Matti’s unique artistic language is shaped by influences from contemporary folk art, street art, art brut-inspired expression, and African and South American art. The result, however, does not feel like a game of art-historical references, but rather a personal need to make an image visible before it has a chance to become too polished. His works contain roughness, humor, restlessness, and warmth. They can be at once funny and slightly unsettling, colorful and raw, light in appearance yet emotionally weighty.
Järvinen’s art has been exhibited in Finland, Europe, and the United States, including at New York Fashion Week in 2022. His works are part of private collections around the world as well as the Kouvola Art Museum’s collection. However, international recognition has not dulled Matti’s edge. It remains the same curious, emotion-driven creative process, where painting is less a profession than a way to stay in motion.
An animated NFT brings movement to this world. The digital format doesn’t take away from Matti’s artistic touch; rather, it gives the characters a new way to breathe, look, and exist. The NFT craze has already passed, but in 2022, it might even have been a comfortable way to make a living. It sounds almost absurd, but in Matti’s world, the absurd is often just another name for reality.
