Born 1970 in Karhula, Finland. Lives and works in Helsinki, Finland. Studied at the University of Art and Design Helsinki

Although Janne Lehtinen often portrays himself in his work, it is rarely possible to identify him as a person in his pictures. Consequently, it is unclear whether he is referring directly to himself, or whether he sees himself as representing mankind as a whole within its natural or manmade environment. His figures appear somewhat lost, yet, at the same time, closely interconnected with their environment and the objects around them.

Janne Lehtinen’s project for INSIGHTS in 2015 was created in Finland and Estonia. Its starting point was the title of the work, “Feet on the Ground, Head in the Sky”. Lehtinen is concerned with a seeming paradox here. On the one hand, a brick is a heavy, dense component that ensures grounding and stability. On the other hand, a brick is, after all, made up of nothing more than dust, water, air and fire. So, it is actually lightweight and evanescent, offering but the slightest resistance to a tendency to float away.