16  February – 7  May

“I painted this series of watercolours like one keeps a journal. Every day in February 1994,I started a new painting and each painting was named after the date it was created.The following year I painted some twenty more. The motifs are spiritual paragons,mostly saints and idols, but also wanderers and prospectors like myself. I had lived in New York for several years and enjoyed the spectacular city, but had also been in search of a spiritual as well as a physical home. I visited a Buddhist temple to study. Meditated. I pondered the relationship between the image and the immaterial. In the end, my need to express myself conquered my initial fumbling. Painting allowed me to get on with my life, which had been mottled with fear and desire. What else could I have done but paint paintings?A trinity of colours glowed with sheer grace. The Annunciation was an important subject matter for me. The Virgin Mary had, after all, accepted the mission entrusted to her even though it beggared belief.“

“Later on, I would apply these experiences to my own culture; letting winter light and reflections on water bear witness to the presence of love and truth.”

Kristiina Uusitalo

Visual artist Kristiina Uusitalo is exhibiting on the sixth floor of the Amos Anderson Art Museum. The works on display are from her stay in New York in the 1990s,and include water colours, a triptych in oil, ink paintings, as well as her sketchpads and journals.Together they form a brilliantly colourful whole and act as a document of an artistic journey.

Kristiina Uusitalowould like to thank Suomen Kulttuurirahasto for its support.

Amos Anderson Art Museum

Yrjönkatu 27, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
+358-­‐9-­‐6844 460
www.amosanderson.fi
museum@amosanderson.fi