Samu Raatikainen: Decay
The works in my exhibition are about decay and decomposition. My collage-like paintings have been inspired by my observations of deconstructed landscapes, their damaged trees and heaps of logging waste, as well as colonies of wood-decay fungi and the changes caused by the passage of time. Decay and decomposition also alter colours, as they fade and turn brittle with time and light.
The paintings depict different degrees of shifting, ruptures of structures and loss of control, with no specific, identifiable scale. These changes in the landscape can be taken more broadly as depictions of aging, frailty and transience 鈥� the fragility of life 鈥� or as reflections and descriptions of the extremes of social and climate changes.
When I paint, I explore the possibilities of different materials, tools and unconventional painting techniques. I am interested in the point at which I drift from my original plan for a motif to an abstract expression, as the way the materials behave and interact begins to guide my work. Systematic planning and spontaneity are complementary elements in my paintings.
The composition of the paints I use and their physical properties have an impact on how my paintings evolve, as do the hazy and fading marks made with spray paint that contrast with the precise stencilled forms. My working process relies heavily not only on adding paint and other materials but also on partially covering or wiping away previously painted areas. I call this a temporal event in which I go backwards in the painting process as it were. In the end, only the shells and their skeletal information remain of the previously painted shapes: the bodies of the shapes have disappeared. -Samu Raatikainen
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The works in my exhibition are about decay and decomposition. My collage-like paintings have been inspired by my observations of deconstructed landscapes, their damaged trees and heaps of logging waste, as well as colonies of wood-decay fungi and the changes caused by the passage of time. Decay and decomposition also alter colours, as they fade and turn brittle with time and light.
The paintings depict different degrees of shifting, ruptures of structures and loss of control, with no specific, identifiable scale. These changes in the landscape can be taken more broadly as depictions of aging, frailty and transience 鈥� the fragility of life 鈥� or as reflections and descriptions of the extremes of social and climate changes.
When I paint, I explore the possibilities of different materials, tools and unconventional painting techniques. I am interested in the point at which I drift from my original plan for a motif to an abstract expression, as the way the materials behave and interact begins to guide my work. Systematic planning and spontaneity are complementary elements in my paintings.
The composition of the paints I use and their physical properties have an impact on how my paintings evolve, as do the hazy and fading marks made with spray paint that contrast with the precise stencilled forms. My working process relies heavily not only on adding paint and other materials but also on partially covering or wiping away previously painted areas. I call this a temporal event in which I go backwards in the painting process as it were. In the end, only the shells and their skeletal information remain of the previously painted shapes: the bodies of the shapes have disappeared. -Samu Raatikainen
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