Ilona Lehtonen (b. 1990) is a Helsinki-based multidisciplinary artist. They hold a Master of Arts degree from Aalto University (2020) and a Fine Artist degree from Tampere University of Applied Sciences (2014). Additionally, they have completed courses in film photography, documentary film, and animation at Escola Superior Artística do Porto.
With a diverse creative practice, Ilona’s portfolio encompasses a wide range of projects, including music videos, fashion films, video art installations, and drawings. Since 2012, they have delivered real-time visuals in live performances as VJ Visukisu.
Inquiries
ilonaleh@gmail.com
Master of Arts
Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Visual Cultures, Curating and Contemporary Art (ViCCA), Helsinki, Finland, 2015–2020
Bachelor of Culture and Arts
Tampere University of Applied Sciences, the Degree Programme in Fine Art, 2010–2014
Erasmus Exchange
Escola Superior Artística do Porto, the Degree Programme in Photography, Porto, Portugal, 2013
Performance and Theatre Technician
Keuda, Further Vocational Qualification in Performance and Theatre Technology, Kerava, Finland, 2024–ongoing
2023 – Vesimusiikkia (Laguuni 1), Screening, Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamo, Helsinki
2020 – Phantasmagoria, Kallio Stage, Helsinki
2025 – Kauneimmat ja kauheimmat protestivideot, Screening, Korjaamo Kino, Helsinki, Finland
2022 – Aalto Aesthetics, Screening, Seinäjoki, Finland
2022 – Oulu Music Video Festival: “Let me know how you feel”, Screening, Seinäjoki, Finland
2021 – Projio & Tampere Film Festival’s VJ Competition, Screening, Väinö Linna square, Tampere
2020 – Fears or Fierce?, Oksasenkatu 11, Helsinki
2020 – Dark Matter, Kulttuuritalo Valve, Oulu
2017 – Out 2, Research Pavilion, Sala del Camino, Venice
2016 – Space Invaders IV: Heterotopia, Elsankuja 5, Espoo
2014 – Top Button Undone, TR1 Kunsthalle, Tampere
2013 – Culture Bus, Tampere Public Transport, Tampere
2012 – Y: Generation Stories, Näsilinna, Tampere
2011 – Seili Baltic Sea Film Festival, Screening, Parainen, Finland
2023 – Aalto Aesthetics, Seinäjoki Library, Seinäjoki
2022 – Oulu Music Video Festival: Pumpeligaala, Tietomaa Science Centre, Oulu
2019 – Aalto Aesthetics, Lakeuden Risti Church, Seinäjoki
2017 – Cyclogenesis, Särkänniemi Planetarium, Tampere
See more on “Live Visuals”.
2024 – Oulu Music Video Festival, Finland (Winner with Modem: Un chant d’amour – Teinipumpeli)
2023 – Roma International Fashion Film Festival, Italy (Winner – Best Concept)
2023 – Košice International Film Festival, Slovakia (Official Selection)
2023 – FilmHaus Berlin, Germany (Three Nominations for A Conversation with Solitude – Best New Media, Best Music Video Directing & Best Music Video Cinematography)
2023 – Oulu Music Video Festival, Finland (Nomination for Rosettes: Meaning of Music – Finnish Contest)
2023 – Oulu Music Video Festival, Finland (Nomination for Modem: Luxuria – Finnish Contest)
2023 – Filmifonia, Finland (Winner with Modem: Elokuvia – Best Music Video)
2023 – Filmifonia, Finland (Nomination with Modem: Luxuria)
2022 – Madonie & Palermo Film Festival Sicily, Italy (Winner with A Conversation with Solitude – Best Fashion Film)
2022 – Sarajevo Fashion Film Festival, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Nomination for A Conversation with Solitude – Best Story)
2022 – Fashion Film Festival Istanbul, Turkey (Official Selection)
2022 – Vesuvius International Film Fest, Italy (Official Selection)
2022 – Film in Focus (Honorable mention for A Conversation with Solitude – Best Experimental Short Film)
2022 – Croatia Fashion Film Festival, Croatia (Nomination for A Conversation with Solitude – Best Story)
2022 – Canadian International Fashion Film Festival, Canada (Official Selection)
2022 – London Fashion Film Festival, UK (Official Selection)
2022 – Oulu Music Video Festival, Finland (Nomination for Modem: Elokuvia – Finnish Contest)
2022 – Oulu Music Video Festival, Finland (Nomination for Ty Roxy: Just a Man – Finnish Contest)
2021 – Oulu Music Video Festival, Finland (Nomination for Ty Roxy: True Colours – Finnish Contest)
⋅ Phantasmagoria: How the Gaze, Gazing and Being Gazed at Form the Image of Gender (2020). Master’s thesis, Aalto ARTS.
⋅ Ajan tuntu (2015). Comic, DOT-lehti 3: 50–51, DesignOnTampere ry, Tampere.
⋅ The Other Guide to Tampere: Comic Conversations on Urbanism (2015). Comic book, SAFA, Tampere.
⋅ Top Button Undone (2014). Exhibition publication, TAMK, Tampere.
Artist's Statement
In my art, I often observe the world from the perspective of an outsider looking from within. This liminal vantage point cultivates a captivating ambivalence of connection and detachment, blurring the boundaries between self and other. Navigating the landscapes of roles, stereotypes, otherness, nature, and inner spaces, I delve into the depths of morality, structures, and behavioural patterns. Transcending the confines of material reality, I embrace the intangible phantasmagoria that lurks within our psyche, where human and animal instincts intersect.
Through the convergence of external and internal worlds, my works lay bare the profound symbiosis between individuals and their environment. My art captures how the environment shapes us, and how we mold and reshape the shared world we inhabit. It reveals the layers of our collective consciousness, provoking inquiry into the construction of truth and the boundless possibilities that lie beyond societal constraints. It refracts our perceptions to reveal the multi-faceted reality and invites viewers to journey into territories where the fantastic and the familiar intertwine. In this zone, the ordinary becomes extraordinary, and the mundane transforms into the realm of dreams.