Paintings – Otto Santala

My paintings are content-wise multi-layered, and I want to give the viewer space to build their own associations to interpret them. In my works, I explore the relationship between humans and their environment, but I do not define it through nature or urban settings. I often use images from old advertisements as source material, which I juxtapose with other visual elements, changing the original context of the image into something different from what it initially was.

One of the thematic influences in my work is the fast-paced consumer society, where people live among ever-changing trends and low-quality consumer goods that replace spiritual development, seeking meaning in life through them. In other words, people define themselves through the products they acquire, which are marketed to them through various media channels. Although one of the starting points for some of my works is to criticize consumer society, this critique may not be immediately apparent when viewing the final painting.

This text was created with AI assistance