Rain Saarik

Artist's country of origin: Estonia

Rain Saarik (b. 1998) is a painter from Pärnu. In 2023, the artist graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts, majoring in sculpture and installation.

Rain Saarik deals with spiritual and existential questions, mental health and individual beliefs formed while growing up in an atheist society. The artist creates an atmospheric environment for the works, which acts as a break on the borders of perceived realities – life and death, sleep and wakefulness, illusory and real. A mental environment shaped by haunting memories and feelings where the mind wanders and gets lost.
The symbolist treatment of the paintings is inspired by the magical realism fiction genre. In magical realism works, the world is still based on the real world, but fantastical elements are considered normal in that world. Magical elements work as metaphorical images that help explain an emotion or thought or provide a comparison to what is actually experienced. It creates a suitable atmosphere and enhances the narrative ways of reading the picture. Much of the inspiration comes from the artist’s dreams or dreams at night before falling asleep. Therefore, the artist uses a color that tends to darkness, which symbolizes the ideal starting point of the works – the dark night environment. While a white canvas is classically considered the beginning of new ideas or possibilities, Rain Saarik finds it in the black void. From the darkness where the light begins to flow in, revealing the images in the subconscious.