Meet laika

Meet laika

I am a visual artist, living and working in Helsinki, Finland.
laika started as my alter-ego a long time ago. She is a mixed breed of wolf, fox and a dog. She got wings in the early 90’s and later when I got on the Internet that seemed like a good username since the name comes from my first, middle and last name
If you ever run into laika take my advice and be somewhat careful, since she’s known to be.. um.. unpredictable..

I am originally a painter and that’s where the roots of my work lie. I do lot of different things. Label me as you wish but don’t ask me to agree because I’m not fond of labels. Check out my portfolio to find out more and see for yourself.

I work with pens and pencils, paints and inks, all sorts of materials. Most importantly; my Nikon D300, my trusty old Polaroids and of course a Mac. Yes, I’m very passionate about Macs (well, I tend to be passionate about lot of things). Macs are better and more beautiful.

I like animals. As a kid I went through life having mice, hamsters, dogs, bunnies and couple of pet rats. I currently own a dog called Diesel, she does fair bit of modelling for me.
I also like computer games and I play World of Warcraft.

I admire many artists and designers but the biggest influence, mentor and idol in my whole life has been Peppi Pitkätossu – Pippi Långstrump – Pippi Longstocking by the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. I spent my childhood being Pippi. If you’re not familiar with her, I strongly advise reading the Pippi books – and I would urge you to get to know the original version though.

If you like my work (and I hope you do) and would like to purchase some of it, please email me for details.