The most important thing to do is to work with the painting until the magic happens. It is no longer just paint on canvas, the sum of its parts, but able to open universes to the viewer.
Traces of human life in cultural environment, atmosphere of place, ´genius loci´, and layers of history are my fuel. Also the idea of Grand Tour is fascinating. -Where was the point at which the exotic became homely and homely became exotic?
Half of my life I have been living between the Finnish and the Italian culture. That influences my approach greatly. I am in both of them simultaneously and I if I wish, I can observe their phenomena as an outsider, too.
During the painting process, I open and give space for the ´speechless´ so that the invisible can come visible in the work. As main techniques I use oil on canvas and mixed media on paper. I use the historical materials and techniques with a new twist. The material becomes an issue ´per se´ and gives another conceptual layer to the body of work.
I have had tens of solo exhibitions since 1996, out of which more than ten in Helsinki: Gallery Katariina, Gallery Uusitalo, Gallery G12, Taidesalonki / Konstsalongen, Lapinlahti art museum.
Three books have been published about my art: Helsinki in Florence, Florence in Helsinki (2003), Grand Tour (2014) and Roihupelto-Pompeii -between two worlds (2023).
I have also made commissioned environmental pieces in Helsinki: the Garden and the Piers. In Finnish Painters´Union I have ordinary membership.
My work is found in the collections of the City of Helsinki, the Lahti Art Museum and Kuntsi Modern Art Museum, Vaasa. In private collections my paintings can be found in many European countries and in the U.S.A. and in Australia.
For more, see: www.merjasdg.net