Porin Saskiat ry, Scholarship Exhibition – Rauha Aaltonen and Kaisa Huotari

Rauha Aaltonen, born in 1990 in Helsinki, lives and works in Pori. Aaltonen graduated as a visual artist from Satakunta University of Applied Sciences in the spring of 2018. Aaltonen primarily works with painting, ceramic art, and performance art. The exhibition features paintings and sculptures created within the past year. The works are multi-layered explorations of art history, aesthetics, fashion, and contemporary and popular culture. References in the themes and aesthetics of the works include the Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, and Expressionism. Influences also come from Sofia Coppola’s film “Marie Antoinette,” real queens and princesses, the colors and shapes of the 80s, fashion, and Rihanna. The works are also influenced by femininity and womanhood. They explore femininity and womanhood both generally and on a very personal level. The sprawling girlishness is not just a deliberate aesthetic choice; it is also an honest essence of self. Important and justified.

Porin Saskiat Scholarship Recipient Kaisa Huotari

Kaisa Huotari, born in 1994 in Jyväskylä, is in her final year at Kankaanpää School of Fine Arts. In painting, she is fascinated by experimental techniques, structural elements, and collages. Her studies have mainly focused on sculpture, and painting has remained more of an independent practice, where inspiration comes from three-dimensional, almost relief-like forms. The subjects come from nature, imagination, and randomness. Some works are like assembled memories, individual flashes from the past. By looking at the overall picture, one can distinguish something representational, but the individual pieces mean more. Some images have a coherent theme, but the colors are faded or blur into emptiness. The oldest work is from 2016, so there is some variation among the pieces. The abstract visual language gains figurative elements, but the intention is to leave room for various interpretations by leaving some parts open.

Translated with Copilot