Jaana Saario, Artists´Statement
I am interested in temporal, geographical and cultural layers. I layer mental images, colors, characters and texts in my works. I paint and draw in mixed media with ink, oil, acrylic, charcoal, pencil. Sometimes I use old and collected material as the basis of the paintings. The contents of my works consist of observations, wonderings... things that won't let go.
I am currently processing my perspective on the confusing world state. Endless negotiations and correct political speeches and at the same time brutal and unrestrained attacks on civilians, political liquidations and propaganda create an endless contradiction in my thoughts.
I sew together old and used textiles, paint with tempera and ink and draw with charcoal, pencil, chalks, colored pencils. I shape the mortar surface, I scrape and smooth, I paint a fresco and a mix of inks. I deal with my thoughts about giving up, inconsolation, the everyday life and dreams of ordinary people being wiped out.
I am currently working on a series in which I combine the figures of teenagers with references from the symbolism of different cultures and religions. The content refers to quieting down, inner peace, a person's open relationship with their environment and recovery. By freeing the paintings from wedges, I am looking for a more immaterial character for my pieces and the possibility to bring out the materiality of textiles better.
I am a D.A., visual artist, curator and visual arts teacher. I live and work in Salo. I´m a member of Finnish Painters´Union and the board of the Turku Artists' Association. My works can be found in Turku art lending office, in Taiko and in my own KotiGalleria.
My artistic doctoral theses for University of Art and Design Helsinki was completed in autumn 2010. The dissertation GIVING BIRTH TO A PIECE OF ART; Verbalizing the process of visual art explore the nature of the artistic process and explain the ways on which the work of art is built into its final form.