Taidemaalariliitto

“You have to go inside in order to see outside.” This thought is the red thread in this exhibition. Idea for this exhibition began in 2017. It’s about a journey in my inner world. Thoughts have been brewing in my mind, refined, and finally concretized into images. It’s about communication and the desire to be seen internally by yourself and others.

During the process, I have been thinking about the impact of trauma on the experience of existence and about manners that are learned through trauma. The name of the exhibition “The Box and the Sea” refers to the limitation and infinity of mind. It describes flow of mind in a closed space as well as its capacity to travel towards infinity. There are two series in the limelight called The Walk and The box in this exhibition.

In the productions of the Walk series I describe the movement of the mind or it can be also seen as the course of life. Picture consists of rhythm and repetition. The painting process has a significant meaning in them. It describes walking inside the mind and being a prisoner of it. It is also about the need for mind control and related feelings. The edges of the painting base symbolize the boundaries of the mind and the painting base itself describes the internal space. The productions describe the feeling of being in an internal state, or in a “box.”

Brush strokes form a wall or a wall that hints about inhibition to see or hide on the surface of an image. It prevents me from seeing myself or others from seeing me. It is a self-inflicted element that stands between my inner places or between me and the outside world. Brush strokes rhythmize the surface of the image. The brushstrokes run like thoughts or steps, always turning against the edge until finally the space runs out.

The paintings in the Box series describe the places of the mind, the relationships between them and emotional states that take shape in them. Few elements are repeated in them, and by moving them I can reflect on their meanings and strengths. These places include places with trauma memories and places to hide.

Riikka Aihinen

Riikka Aihinen (born. 1976) has worked as a painter since 1999. She graduated from the Lahti Institute of of Fine Arts. in 2004 and completed pedagogical studies in order to become an art teacher at Lahti Institute of Design. She currently lives and works in Turku. This exhibition is her sixth solo exhibition. In addition, she participated in several group and joint exhibitions during her career.

In her artwork, she strives to touch the interface where painting and existence meet. The productions describe the inner world. To Aihinen, the painting as a form of expression is natural to her, and she seeks something new as she moves inside of the frames.