“Painting is a poem with form.”
Guo Xi: Lofty Message of Forests and Streams
It was a night and I could not leave. I could not write a letter. I was scared. There was water in the air and it floated past me as thin clouds. Behind me, the mountain changed its color. It got dark. It was quiet and empty inside.
Actually, I did not want to be inside. I wanted to walk, float in space, take a bite of the air. But first I had to sleep, think some thoughts, dream. Like the dream of a fjord that was deeper than the sea.
I did not know how much time had passed. Something was vibrating far away. It was not a sound. It was something that moved in pulses. It came closer and moved further away. It was attached to my body, heart, eye, fingers by a thin hollow thread. Through this invisible passage, messages flowed from there to me and from me to there.
In painting, I think about something quiet that exists in all of us. I have been observing light, colors and natural shapes in large landscapes. Drawing outdoors has been one of the starting points. There is concrete mystery in the simultaneously abstract and physical nature of natural landscapes, which inspires my artistic work. I use a tempera painting technique, in which egg yolk is used as a binding agent. The simple composition of the paint – egg yolk, water and pigment – and the power of color support my aims in terms of painting. I strive for an unassuming style and think about the inner radiation of color. What matters is presence and the feeling of touch.
The exhibition has been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.
I also wish to thank the Nordic Artists’ Centre Dale.
Riikka Wesamaa (b. 1970) is a Helsinki-based painter. Wesamaa graduated from the Free Art School in 1996. She has also studied at the Helsinki University of Technology (1992–1997), the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm (1999–2000) and Aalto University (Master of Arts, 2014). Her works have been on display at solo exhibitions since 1995, for example at Galleria Becker in Jyväskylä (2021), Galleria Saskia in Tampere (2017), Porvoo Art Hall (2015), Galleria Huuto’s spaces on Uudenmaankatu and in Jätkäsaari (2011, 2015) and the Finnish Painters’ Union’s gallery in Helsinki (2001, 2005). Wesamaa has participated in several joint and group exhibitions in both Finland and abroad. The artist’s works are included in the collections of the Sara Hildén Art Museum, the Finnish State Art Commission and the Finnish Art Society.
