Roy Aurinko (b. 1972) lives and works in Heinola, Finland.
In his vivid, dissonant paintings, Roy Aurinko translates the impulses and flows of the body—some chaotic, some subdued. In unspooling orchestrations of color and gesture, forms evoke various engagements with speed, precision, and care. Some marks are fluid, others scratched, dripped, or scumbled. In places, meandering lines and labyrinthian patterns are seemingly carved or pressed into passages of impasto, creating another dimension of marks in relief.
He works with an admixture of acrylic, oil, pastel, and cement, generating a tangible expression of materiality. Each canvas bears a sense of natural processes, suggesting the mutability and fluctuation of our environment, as well as sublime moments of order and organization. A scientific approach undergirds his relationship to painting: “It’s utterly beautiful how theories are put together, tested and certified,” he observes. “I’d like to think a similar kind of method applies to my artistic work. Observation, experimentation, analysis.”
EDUCATION
2007 MA, University of Lapland
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 In the Air Tonight, Makasiini Contemporary, Turku FI
2024 Territorial Behaviour, Blue Shop Gallery, London UK
2024 Heavy Breathing, Simchowitz Gallery, Los Angeles US
2023 Utter rubbish hypotheses, Frans Kasl Projects, Eindhoven NL
2023 Analog Distortion, Jarilager Gallery, Cologne DE
2023 Jätealue liudentuu lukitsemattoman puomin alitse hautuumaalle, Gallery Katariina, Helsinki FI
2022 Rikastettu maisema, Heinola Art Museum FI
2021 Medusan peili, Gallery Huuto, Helsinki FI
2020 Medusan peili, Poriginal galleria, Pori FI
2019 Saatanalliset bakkanaalit, Galleria Uusi Kipinä, Lahti FI
2018 Pohjolan tyttäret ja Manalan väki, Galleria Mältinranta, Tampere FI
2015 Tomorrow a Zeppelin, Gallery Emil Studio, Tampere FIU
2015 Tomorrow a Zeppelin, Brinkkala Gallery, Turku FI
2014 Lost Work, Gallery Katariinan Studio, Helsinki FI
SELECTED GROUP AND COLLECTIVE EXHIBITIONS
2024 With These Eyes, Jarilager Gallery, Seoul KR
2024 Shelter From The Storm, Makasiini Contemporary, Turku FI
2024 Towards a theory of painting, Frans Kasl Projects, Eindhoven NL
2023 Here is my favorite place, Jarilager Gallery, Seoul KR
2022 Eating a vegan sandwich on the train while listening to country music, L21 Lab, Palma de Mallorca ES
2019 Oxygenum, Nordic Art Association’s triennale, Vetelin taidekartano, Veteli FI
2019 3:1, tm-gallery, Helsinki FI
2018 Let Me Know Before You Arrive, Warbling Gallery, London
2017 Artistsbook II, Galleria Katariina, Helsinki FI
2016 Levottomia unia, Wiurila Mansion, Salo FI
2016 Kuolema, Mikkeli Art Museum FI
2013 Muotokuva, Lahti Art Museum FI
WORKS IN COLLECTIONS
Finnish National Gallery
Heinola Art Museum
Lahti Museum of Visual Arts Malva
MEMBERSHIPS
Finnish Painters’ Union
Lahti Artist's Association
Kuvasto
GRANTS
2024 Alfred Kordelin Foundation, working grant
2024 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, working grant
2023 The Finnish Cultural Foundation, working grant
2022 Frame Contemporary Art Finland, travel grant
2021 Alfred Kordelin Foundation, working grant
2021 The Finnish Cultural Foundation, working grant
2020 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, working grant
2019 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, working grant
2015 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, project grant