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Art Center Ahjo, Hehku space: Maija Vanhatapio

Maija Vanhatapio - Of Light and Dark

The starting point of my artistic expression is the dynamics of nature and especially its strong northernness - NATURA NATURANS. In my works, I combine abstracted landscape paintings with emotional states depicting the unity of nature and man, with the experiences of a person walking in nature. I bring up processes of making from such views and moments of silence that have touched and remained untold. I convey the multi-manifest and multi-sensory atmospheres of the environment as dialogues of shapes, colors and light. I picture what I see; I break down my experience into parts, pick out the most important elements and build an abstract story from them for the viewer's own interpretation.

Light, darkness and colors are emotional states for me. My way of working is almost intuitive: the beginning a rough division of the surface, graphic lines with charcoal and chalks. Or color surfaces directly on the base guided by a momentary feeling or memory. I research what I have done, how it directs me to divide the colors and shapes into a dialogue between light and dark. The end result is then created through the cooperation of the tools, memories and hand.

In my works I use acrylics, oil and mixed techniques.

Maija Vanhatapio (1946) is a visual and graphic artist living and working in Kajaani, a member of the Oulu artists' club 63 (Oulun taiteilijaseura 63). She has held numerous solo exhibitions, participated in selected group and joint exhibitions both at home and abroad and in nationally jurored exhibitions.

The works in the exhibition have been created with the support of the Korona grants of The Arts Promotion Centre Finland during the years 2020, 2021 and 2022.

[email protected]
https://maijavanhatapio.fi/
https://www.instagram.com/maija_vanhatapio/