Her debut exhibition sold out in less than thirty minutes. She has had an audience of over a thousand people give her a standing ovation. Her paintings have found homes across the globe.
It is without a doubt that Johanna Oras is the brightest shining star in the Finnish art sky.
Growing up in very humble conditions, it wasn’t self-evident that Oras could ever follow her dream of becoming an artist. As the daughter of a single parent, her focus was needed elsewhere. Her budding dreams were dimmed by the realities of the life she was born into. But luckily for art enthusiasts around the world, not for long.
After graduating an art high school in Southern Finland, Oras got accepted to study at the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Art, where she started to bloom and find herself as an artist. To expand her learning and techniques even more, she studied one more year at the Florence Academy of Art. After an intense four years of studying, Oras had the skill set and confidence to step out and start discovering herself as an individual and as an artist. In 1997 in Helsinki, her debut exhibition was held at the most respected art gallery of its time. The evening was largely anticipated, fully packed, and every piece sold out. Everyone was intrigued by a promising young adult, who exuded passion for art and was clearly here to make her mark in the world. Fast forward to four years later, Oras proudly hung her work up at the Salon des Beaux-Arts de Paris, Carrousel du Louvre. Out of hundreds of artists, she received the jury’s Honorary Mention, and unsurprisingly it didn’t end up being the last prize she won at the Louvre. With Oras’ past successes in Finland and Europe, her determination and her identity was stronger than ever and she was ready to take on her next challenge. In 2005, Oras and her family moved to the Côte d’Azur in France. This unfamiliar country offered her a whole new source of inspiration to tap into. With this refreshed vision, Oras went on to hold exhibitions in places like Cannes and Monte Carlo, just to name a few. Since then Johanna Oras has continued her quest to conquer the world, having had exhibitions around Europe, The US, China, Russia and Qatar. Even though Oras still continues to travel the world with her art, she has also settled down with a continuous summer exhibition in Eastern Finland, which opened its doors to the public for the first time in 2010. Since then, Oras has been purposefully expanding her brand, and worked towards her vision of making fine art accessible for everyone to enjoy. In the present day, Oras still pursues growth and development as a visual artist. She lectures, teaches, interior designs, and has opened her mysterious atelier doors so that people can come watch her work. Johanna Oras is a household name, a wife, an innovator, a mother, a friend, a role model, but mostly: an incomparable artist. Now, we can only guess what’s next for this exceptional woman.
