Udi Salmiaitta is a watercolourist from Kotka who depicts the nature of the eastern Gulf of Finland in their paintings. The works represent modern realism and rely on the tradition of scientific illustration. The search for the identity of the material and the botanical accuracy are characteristic of Salmiaitta’s work. The works arouse the viewer to reflect on their relationship to nature, history and the environment. The work of Udi Salmiaitta has been supported in 2021 by the Center for the Promotion of the Arts and in 2022 by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

Salmiaitta’s artistic work focuses strongly on the locality, the surrounding environment and deep ecological and spiritual themes. The paintings function as artistic independent works, but at a time when man-made species loss is worse than ever before, the works are also a documentation of wild vegetation from the Kotkansaari area, where the evolving urban environment combines with vulnerable marine nature.

The plants depicted in the paintings also belong to the group most often thought of as weeds. Fortunately, Kotka, known for its magnificent parks, also has wastelands and shore bushes, where wild roses, mugworts and thistles continue to live quietly on the outskirts of the built urban nature. These growing environments provide inspiration and designs for Salmiaitta’s paintings, as well as a significant habitat for numerous species of insects and animals. All the works in the exhibition are watercolor paintings on paper.

More information.
udisalmiaitta.com