Saimi Suikkanen
Basic information
b. 1994, Imatra
Visual Artist, Painter
Residence: Helsinki
Contact information
Email: saimi.suikkanen@gmail.com
Artist’s Statement
In my art, I turn my gaze on fleeting, intimate moments in the midst of monotonous day-to-day routines. I paint subjects as seemingly nondescript as clothing piled on a chair or a tea bag sagging on the edge of the kitchen sink. How can something so apparently trivial be transformed into something so spellbinding on canvas?
I take inspiration from slow-paced films and books in which the storyline seems to move nowhere. Through my paintings, I strive to capture the lingering inertia of arrested moments that verge upon tedium. My method is partly intuitive. Sometimes, a nuanced color might inspire me to replicate exactly the same shade on canvas. Occasionally, I might stumble upon a suitable theme after an unremarkable daily occurrence – a forgettable experience such as trying on a shirt that has grown too tight is a mundane incident, but one that imparts a tragicomic narrative that lends itself consummately to a painting. I record my observations as cellphone photos and text snippets, which I jot down whenever I notice anything of interest. I then harnesses these random observations in the studio as raw material in my painting process.
I take inspiration from slow-paced films and books in which the storyline seems to move nowhere. Through my paintings, I strive to capture the lingering inertia of arrested moments that verge upon tedium. My method is partly intuitive. Sometimes, a nuanced color might inspire me to replicate exactly the same shade on canvas. Occasionally, I might stumble upon a suitable theme after an unremarkable daily occurrence – a forgettable experience such as trying on a shirt that has grown too tight is a mundane incident, but one that imparts a tragicomic narrative that lends itself consummately to a painting. I record my observations as cellphone photos and text snippets, which I jot down whenever I notice anything of interest. I then harnesses these random observations in the studio as raw material in my painting process.
