Marja-Liisa Torniainen
Basic information
b. 1953, Helsinki
Visual Artist, Art Critic & Independent Writer
Residence: Tampere
Contact information
Phone number: 358(0)45-1209 453
Email: marjatorniainen@gmail.com
Artist’s Statement
Statement:
LIFE IS A DREAM
As an artist I work above all with colours. Anything connected with colours becomes the objective of my unquenchable passion, from their material composition, even the words describing them, to those that reach me from a spiritual plane.
By this I do not mean that I shy away from what is iniquitous or violent, but my starting point is always to be positive by painting the living beauty of our universe wherever it manifests itself.
My paintings, mostly in oils and large in size, can be interpreted individually but also as a whole on ten-metre long walls or sequences.
The techniques are varied, but my main characteristic is to use a surface with a strong material structure. The range of my colour palette is wide, from heavy and vivid relationships to highly sensitive narratives. Writing and photography are an integral part of my output, too.
Sensuousness plays a large part in the creation of my themes, because without senses, we have no sense of the world; thus our life on this planet would be nonsense. On the other hand, the senses in their most purified forms can be the doorways to heaven.
To see the eternal essence beyond the concrete object is the main goal and yet it is the most difficult to achieve in art and in life generally. So, to me the relevant question is not whether art is representative or abstract, but that the universe contains multiple levels which are visually different, and that absolute beauty is the most internal content of all existence.
It is my sincere wish that my works will have a positive influence on the viewer’s mind, since they have been created to strengthen, purify and to offer the joy of life through them.
“Life is a Dream” is also a play by Pedro Calderon (1600–1681).
Translation: Yvonne Hyrynen
LIFE IS A DREAM
As an artist I work above all with colours. Anything connected with colours becomes the objective of my unquenchable passion, from their material composition, even the words describing them, to those that reach me from a spiritual plane.
By this I do not mean that I shy away from what is iniquitous or violent, but my starting point is always to be positive by painting the living beauty of our universe wherever it manifests itself.
My paintings, mostly in oils and large in size, can be interpreted individually but also as a whole on ten-metre long walls or sequences.
The techniques are varied, but my main characteristic is to use a surface with a strong material structure. The range of my colour palette is wide, from heavy and vivid relationships to highly sensitive narratives. Writing and photography are an integral part of my output, too.
Sensuousness plays a large part in the creation of my themes, because without senses, we have no sense of the world; thus our life on this planet would be nonsense. On the other hand, the senses in their most purified forms can be the doorways to heaven.
To see the eternal essence beyond the concrete object is the main goal and yet it is the most difficult to achieve in art and in life generally. So, to me the relevant question is not whether art is representative or abstract, but that the universe contains multiple levels which are visually different, and that absolute beauty is the most internal content of all existence.
It is my sincere wish that my works will have a positive influence on the viewer’s mind, since they have been created to strengthen, purify and to offer the joy of life through them.
“Life is a Dream” is also a play by Pedro Calderon (1600–1681).
Translation: Yvonne Hyrynen
