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| images (by Veli Granö) published here in agreement with the Finnish Association for Rural Culture and Education (MSL) |
Life and works
Meriläinen, currently in his mid-80s, was born in 1938 on the other side of the country in Tuupovaara, a community in North Karelia in eastern Finland, near the border with Russia.
He grew up in a farming community, and because it was wartime, many young fathers had been drafted to serve in the military.
After primary school Meriläinen studied to become a construction draftsman and architect.
Once qualified, Meriläinen moved to the city of Hanko, where he started working as an architect.
The family lived in a house designed by Meriläinen and built with his own hands. It became a nice, light house with a studio, which he needed for his work. But not only that, he also had the studio because he had become interested in art and wanted to be creatively active. He had therefore previously taken a course by correspondence in art history and artistic design.
In his spare time he made sculptures, paintings and drawings.
Images in this article show some of the sculptures he made. All in all a considerable amount, not too large qua format, quite expressive and partly mounted on the wall of a shed near the house, a method of exhibition we see more often in Finland.
In his paintings and drawings he depicted Finnish landscapes that no longer exist in that capacity and also Finnish ways of life that are now lost, such as horses pulling sleds, however not in a nostalgic style, but rather with a timeless character.
Nowadays Meriläinen lives alone in his house.
Documentation
* Article by Heini Heikkilä on the website of the Finnish Association for rural culture
and education MSL
Heikki Meriläinen
Paintings, drawings and sculptures
No address available
Hanko, region Uusimaa, Finland
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