Artist Statement
My work begins with sensation – a sound, an image, a sudden feeling, a thought – that arrives already formed, like the opening frame of a film. From there something begins to unfold. I don’t force it into shape or decide its form in advance, instead, I follow it, and it finds its own way into music, text, or image. I don’t think myself as working across disciplines so much as returning repeatedly to the same source, and trusting what emerges through the process.
Central to this is a particular relationship with listening , not as passive reception but as an active, embodied and experiential, both external and internal, always changing, always contextual, never quite the same twice. Listening, for me, is inseparable from seeing, feeling and imagining. When I improvise, sounds become shapes that have weight and direction. When I write, images appear with the words. These are not metaphors, they describe how the perception actually works for me, and this process shapes everything I make.
Melody has been central to my practise since my teens- not as a stylistic choice, but as a direct expression how I perceive. During improvising, brief melodic lines began to develop, emerging from and within the moment, each having their own unique shape, movement and direction. They appear, repeat, and dissolve, until their absence holds on to their last breath, leaving a trace, something has shifted.
I work primarily with acoustic guitar, extended techniques, objects and electronics, approaching the instrument not as something to control but as a collaborator whose physical responses and resistances are part of the emerging work. Text scores, graphic notation and poetic prompts are an increasingly important part of my practice , ways of framing an encounter in advance while leaving space for what arrives.
Walking, writing and listening run through everything I do, both method and subject. I am drawn to place and its cultural and historical layers, its silences and absences, and the sounds within, and to the question of how a location can be heard internally as much as physically.
Underlying all of this is a fascination with the frame: the conditions that shape experience, and how listening, playing and the surrounding context can alter what is heard, felt and imagined. Currently I am intersted if the act of framing can itself become the work.
Short Bio
Petri Huurinainen is a Finnish-born a composer, improviser, performer, visual artist and educator based in London whose practice spans sound, performance and drawing.
Before moving to the UK in 1996, he was active in Finland as a guitarist, singer and songwriter, playing and gigging extensively in rock and punk bands. He was also part of the art/music/performance band Niskende in collaboration with Hungarian artists, a cross-cultural group that was musically influenced by Eastern European folk traditions, punk, improvisation and durational performance. This experience deepened his interest in expanded and experimental approaches to music-making. Within this group, instruments were often modified to alter their sound and DIY instruments were built and incorporated into performances.
His music has been released across a range of formats, including cassette, vinyl, CD and digital platforms, including both solo work and collaborations. He frequently collaborates with artists from other disciplines, creating live soundtracks for film, performance and theatre. His solo album Nico’s Grave (2023) developed from a three-year exploration of field recordings made in Berlin, combining environmental sound with guitar improvisation. Alongside his studio-based practice, he performs live in a variety of contexts, both solo and collaboratively, and since 2014 he is a founding member of the improvisation duo Bouche Bée with experimental voice artist Emmanuelle Waeckerlé.
His drawing practice runs in parallel with his sound work, often exploring repetition, line and process through semi-improvised methods that echo his use of looping and accumulation in music.
Together with his artistic practice, he has over twenty years of experience as an educator working in alternative provisions, where he develops listening-based sound workshops that connect artistic practice with pedagogy. He holds a PGCE from Goldsmiths, University of London, an MA from University of Kent, and a BA from University of Dundee.
Selected Works
Bridges in the Air — collection of text scores (2026)
Worm’s Theatre — sound composition for an installation by Juliette Ezaoui at GroundWork Gallery (2026)
Nico’s Grave — solo album exploring Berlin field recordings and guitar improvisation (2023)
Frrree mon cheri — album with Bouche Bée (Earshots Records, 2024)
Exile Nothing — LP (2016)
Selected Performances
2026 — GroundWork Gallery, King’s Lynn
2025 — Studio Voltaire, London
2024 — Voicing Festival, 100 Years Gallery, London
2022 — Morley College, London
Exhibitions
Improvisation 3 — included in The Order of the Drawing, Drawing Research Network, Loughborough University (2023)
Improvisation 1 — Lots of Things Have Happened, Malaspina Printmakers, Vancouver (2020)
Education & Workshops
Alongside his artistic work, Petri Huurinainen has over twenty years of experience as an educator, particularly in special educational needs (SEND), social emotional mental health (SEMH) and alternative provision settings.
His workshops explore listening as a creative and reflective practice through sound walks, field recording and improvisation. Participants are encouraged to engage with their environments in new ways, developing awareness of subtle sonic details and exploring how listening can become a tool for creativity and self-expression.
His ongoing project Bow Sound Walk (2025–) brings together environmental listening, field recording and graphic scores in workshops designed for students in alternative provision settings.
