Young Artist of the Year 206 Roope Itälinna

Roope Itälinna (b. 1990) is a painter based in and working in Turku, Finland. Itälinna’s masterfully executed, photorealistically precise works depict the multi-layered nature of human experience — loneliness and the longing for connection, escapism and hedonism, personal memories and imagined situations.

In his paintings, Itälinna examines young people and fleeting moments of youth in both tightly framed, domestic interiors and expansive industrial halls, clubs, and streets. Nightlife, party culture, clubbing, and rave culture form a central focus of his work. The dancing figures in his paintings are ecstatically immersed in their own spheres amid neon-lit color baths, drifting smoke, and electronic music. Some works also carry surreal and dystopian undertones, depicting people wandering through seemingly endless spaces without contact, detached from others. Melancholy, loneliness, and a sense of alienation within a crowd emerge strongly as recurring themes. The figures often appear alone even in the presence of others, turned away or with their gaze averted.