Henni Alftan is interested in the mimetic relation of paint as material and the image. She aims to discover the moment when the mere paint on canvas transforms into a resemblance of an object – when our gaze interprets and forms the mix of materials into an idea. Thus, her paintings are as much about the painting itself as an object, cherishing the physical qualities of the painting, its history and objecthood. Alftan’s brushstrokes are never improvised, but always made according to a thorough plan. She likes to think of this method of predetermined strokes as manneristic, in the sense of seeking to represent art itself and the artifice of the actual mark-making.

Henni Alftan (born 1979, in Helsinki, Finland) moved to France in 1998 where she graduated from Ecole Nationale d’Art de la Villa Arson and Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris. Her work has been exhibited in both Finland and France in venues such as Galerie Anhava, Forum Box, Galleria Huuto, Amos Anderson Art Museum, and Galerie Claire Gastaud. Her works are present in public collections such as at the Helsinki Art Museum, Amos Anderson Art Museum, and the Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art. She has received the support of institutions such as Arts Promotion Centre of Finland, Swedish Cultural Foudation in Finland, Finnish Fund for Culture, and Centre Nationale des Arts Plastiques etc.