Taidemaalariliitto

Eveliina Hämäläinen and the Reverse Side of the Painting

Eveliina Hämäläinen’s exhibition in the tm•gallery Luona (With) moves between senses and mental images.

The artist says about her newest exhibition: “I depict sensory experiences, visible and invisible phenomena. I’m interested in the transformation of matter: The transformation of mental images into images and the pigments forming a painting.” Transformation is a fitting expression since the painting process is tangible in Hämäläinen’s multi layered and highly detailed works. A painting that at a distance seems monochromatic is at a closer look a tapestry of details and colours. This time ultramarine is the surprise presence.

What is the reverse side of a painting? Hämäläinen has long been interested in how observations and experiences are parallel to the alternation between revealing and hiding that occurs in the process of painting. In a painting there is a tension between the things that are made visible and those that remain hidden. While working, the artist has to constantly think about what to bring forward and what to conceal and how to navigate these choices.

Hämäläinen’s works are very different from each other because she presents both minimalistic works on paper and complex paintings. In the paintings, birds, plants, and in the most recent works also stylised human figures are all together. The first impression is abstract but at a closer look the work turns out to be a tapestry of multiple figures. It is like looking at a faded Gobelin or understanding some visual continuity that goes unnoticed at first. The visible opens up to new directions. With Hämäläinen’s paintings this happens repeatedly since every new detail triggers the appearance of new things. Eveliina Hämäläinen’s new works open perspectives on senses, memory, and materiality.

Eveliina Hämäläinen (born 1984) is Master of Fine Arts. She graduated from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2013. Her previous solo exhibitions were Viive (Delay) in Forum Box Gallery in Helsinki and Valve (Awake) in Porvoo Art Hall in 2022. Hämäläinen’s works are included in the collections of the Finnish State Art Deposit Collection and Kone Foundation among others. Luona is her ninth solo exhibition.

PhD Juha-Heikki Tihinen
Translation by Silja-Maaria Aronpuro

Arts Promotion Centre Finland has supported the exhibition.

Eveliina Hamalainen_cv_2023