Tuula Lukkarinen
The same subjects are repeated in my paintings; rocks, sea and trees. They mean more emotional states to me than the object itself. In my works, the human presence is obscured; they are like hiding behind a rock or a forest or inside a house. The landscape can also be a stage for something experienced or something to come. The bumpiness challenges you to see more. As a synesthete, my senses often get mixed up; it’s again a great thing when, for example, you can see the sounds of nature as colors. The roar of the sea can be seen in different shades of blue or the song of a bird in an audible yellow.
My technique is oil paint, which best lends itself to my work.
I am also interested in working with different materials, which open up completely new worlds.
I live and work in Helsinki.
Airi Salosmaa lives and works in a detached house in Sipoo, where the studio and the courtyard enable working both indoors and outdoors, which is essential for an artist who works with stone.
This exhibition features recent works from the last three years. Salosmaa’s sculptural figures are made of soapstone, with which he combines different materials, often glass and polyester plastic. Colors have a strong symbolic meaning in the works. The silent and faceless characters embody different emotions and inner “realities”, thus reflecting common human feelings.
Airi Salosmaa has participated in more than a hundred joint and group exhibitions in Finland and abroad, and held nearly thirty solo exhibitions. His works are in many public institutions, e.g. in church and hospital premises. In addition, he has published a picture-poem called “Sininen koti”.
