Visualt Artist Unski Immonen Hotel Vanha Postitalo
Vanha Postitalo – The Old Post House – in the center of Varkaus, has literally blossomed in the hands of the artist and talker Unski Immonen. The visual artist’s handprint is visible indoors and outdoors.
Twenty paintings by the artist Immonen can be seen in the rooms and corridors. Outside, the red flower bed and the magnificent sunflower rising from it bring color.
Unski Immonen moved back from Helsinki to Varkaus in early 2020 and started at the Old Post House owned by his brother Janne as an artistic caretaker.
After the summer, Unski’s daily work now takes up most of the artist’s work. In July, he received a grant from the Pohjois-Savo Arts Council for artistic work for six months.
-The grant enables and ensures that I can work fully in the arts. The goal in the future is to be a full-time visual artist. Now is the right time to focus on art again.
Unski’s own studio can also be found in the basement of the Old Post House. In the future, more and more interdisciplinary works will be created there with the help of the grant, which will also embed themes from Varkaus and the Old Post House.
-Now I combine traditional painting and digital image in my work. These animation stories are becoming more and more central to my work. These works related to scholarship work are also coming to the rooms and corridors of the Old Post House.
Winged by the grant, Unski hopes to have an exhibition at the Central Office in the neighboring block next year. The Mikkeli Biennial of Contemporary Art, which will be held next summer, will also be busy.
In Varkaus, the artist’s handprint can be seen in the photo frames erected in the water tower’s Torni Café and Hertunranta park area.
The frames are works of art designed and illustrated by Unski. The frames are inspired by the shooting frames in various locations around National Geographic around the world. The idea is that visitors to Varkaus can describe themselves in recognizable places.
The framework project is part of the Future Savo project and aims to increase the positive visibility of Varkaus. Photographs of the Old Warkaus from the Varkaus Museum’s archive have been used to illustrate the frame of the water tower.
Unski and his family have been comfortable in Varkaus since the years of Helsinki.
-Working and living in Helsinki were more stressful. It is much calmer and more creative to work here.
Today, the Old Post House is also a permanent art exhibition, with paintings by a skilled caretaker decorating the corridors and rooms. Guests and visitors can also redeem the paintings for themselves and inquire about them even through the Old Post House website.
The Old Post House is recommended by the visual artist-caretaker to those travelers to Varkaus who cannot afford to stay with friends or relatives. Or for accommodation, for example, during the holidays.