I see a bird, I see the sky, I see the shadow of a bird reflected against the sky. So I see the impossible, I wonder what is true and what is not.

In a painting, delimiting the image area leads the viewer to conclusions. In addition to what is visible, it is also important what is cut off from the picture. The subjects for my paintings arise from my environment, and their themes are related to the questions of perception of reality, what can be believed to be true and what is an illusion.

I’ll tell you where I am when I see the shadow of a bird in the sky. I’m standing in front of a glass case in a natural history museum and I’m watching a scientific presentation about the ecosystem of a certain area. A bird illuminated by artificial light casts a shadow on the painted sky. The diorama gives answers to the questions of the search for truth from a scientific point of view. Looking at birds flying in the sky outside, on the other hand, gives answers from the perspective of the observer. We wade in the stream of several offered truths, looking for directions to understand.

Paula Ollikainen (born 1973) is a visual artist living in Sarkola and working in Tampere. He graduated with a master’s degree in fine arts from the Fine Arts Academy of the University of the Arts in 2014. Ollikainen has held several solo and group exhibitions in Finland and abroad, the most recent of which was exhibited at the Katariina gallery in Helsinki in the spring of 2023. In addition to private collections, there are works in Kulturamt Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf, the Helsinki Art Museum, the Turku City Art Museum, the Tampere Art Museum and In the collections of the National Gallery, the State Works of Art Commission.

The exhibition has been supported by the Art Promotion Center.

More Info:
paulaollikainen.net