Declan McGonagle (IE):
Pauno Pohjolainen has a very strong presence within his own community as well as nationally. His work involves traditional materials and processes which are articulated by a point of view which is clearly contemporary and outward looking. In recent work his own Orthodox background has further supplied additional formal and conceptual elements. Pauno manages to create a synthesis between historical universal elements and his own individual artistic language to express ideas. It seems to me that he has successfully made this synthesis the core of his work. Some early work could be seen influenced by the international activity but he has managed over time to create a balance. Holding this balance on the boundary of tradition and innovation has led to a creative tension in the work, between material and subject, between form and content, between body and spirit.
I decided to make this award to celebrate this synthesis and Pauno’s convincing awareness of both his own inherited realities and the need to remake those through art. This is an important process, not only for the artist as an individual but for the society within which he functions and communicates.
Declan McGonagle (IE), Director of Museum of Modern Art in Ireland (1997)