In his works, Paakkonen deals with control and its loss. In the midst of the randomness and partly the inevitability of life, he strives to create a space where events can be viewed from a distance. In the paintings, the line between everyday life and carnival disappears. Boundaries are also broken in the hierarchy of characters in the paintings. Man, animal, and the figure of death take the stage together and as equals.
There is an exhibition of scenes in which Paakkonen’s works focus on the themes of experiences of temporality and separateness. Transient situations, emotions and expressions are presented on the stage in a playful and deadly manner. There is no end to the stories painted by Paakkonen, but they are left to think about how to live and understand.
The exhibition has been supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
Melina Paakkonen (b. 1989) is a painter living and working in Helsinki. He is known for his distinctive, decorative and surrealistic expression, characterized by carnivalism and anthropomorphism. Paakkonen graduated as a visual artist from the Turku University of Applied Sciences Academy of Arts in 2019. His solo exhibitions have previously been seen at the gallery ARTag and Halmetoja in Helsinki, and his works are part of the Turku Art Museum / Lars Göran Johnsson’s collection.
