Artist Eeva Peura @ Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki - "FLEURS DE MAI" Exhibition

Eeva Peura: FLEURS DE MAI

Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki

September 27 – October 20, 2024

In the spring of 2024, EEVA PEURA spent three months at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, where she devoted most of her time to working on paper. The works on paper she produced during her residency might be described not as sketches of the future but more as visual notes on imagined realities, taking inspiration from inner experiences evoked by such things as a color, like red, or a word like papillons (butterflies).

While in Paris, Eeva Peura would often visit the tapestries at the museum of medieval art, where her gaze would trace the silhouettes of the exquisitely woven hawks, horses, flowers and maidens. Observing the tapestries led her to reflect on their makers and the invisible threads connecting them to the viewer, herself. Back at her studio, she would then create her own tapestries and imagined worlds in the soft, painterly medium of crayon.

Working as an artist in residence is an eye-opening experience for Eeva Peura, as it lends her an outsider’s perspective that can lead to the discovery of new ways of seeing as well as insights into the process through which observations and ideas are transformed into artworks. Eeva Peura is intrigued by the way the visible world becomes intermingled with sensations and mental impressions that shape both the art-making process and her artistic identity. Working as a loner and outsider can ideally serve as a positive shake-up, forcing an artist-in-residence to search for wholly new approaches to creating art.

Eeva Peura (b. 1982) graduated as a painting major from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2011. She has presented her work in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Finland, including venues such as the Mänttä Art Festival and Turku Art Museum. In 2019, she was chosen as the recipient of the William Thuring Foundation Prize. Her work is held in many of Finland’s most prestigious art collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Turku Art Museum and Vantaa Art Museum Artsi.

GALERIE FORSBLOM

Yrjönkatu 22, 00120 Helsinki

www.galerieforsblom.com

Eeva Peura @ Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki - Myrhh And Noir Exhibition

Eeva Peura: Myrhh And Noir

Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki

October 20 – November 19, 2023

Eeva Peura’s latest exhibition celebrates not one but an abundance of recurring motifs. A profusion of elements spills forth simultaneously, from undersea vistas and decorative interiors to flora, fauna and feminine figures. Some elements tie into a narrative, while others emanate purely from the artist’s inner world. Giving free rein to the caprices of the process and the layering of her images, Eeva Peura’s narrativity presents itself as a form of lyrical restlessness. Sometimes she draws inspiration from a memory, whether of a Parisian cinema, a pearl farm in Halong Bay, or occasionally a color or an image she has seen somewhere. She also draws from a wide spectrum of emotions, from melancholy and despondency to sensuality and playfulness. By painting out her feelings, she links her narratives to the sensory world – painting is, after all, a fundamentally sensory experience. The artist sees painting as a form of building, an evolving process of taking steps forward and backward, continually reshaping the façade of the canvas, much like replastering a wall. In the end, however, the most important aspect of the process is the pleasure it brings.

For Eeva Peura, the task of the artist is to uncover truths and unravel subtle clues, like a detective solving a crime. Each painting begins with a mystery. The painting then gradually comes together, clue by clue, detail by detail. Over time, as the process unfolds, the composition takes shape and finds its identity. Time is an important element for Eeva Peura, who is in the habit of leaving her paintings unfinished for as long as a whole year. Each piece takes shape slowly, over a long period of time, with the artist carefully observing its process of becoming, which necessitates the ability to tolerate imperfection and discomfort. The artist wants the viewer to slow down and take in the details, brushstrokes, and layers – and thereby experience the passage of time and feel the artist’s presence.

Eeva Peura (b. 1982) graduated as a painting major from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2011. She has presented her work in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Finland, including the Mänttä Art Festival and Turku Art Museum. In 2019, she was the recipient of the William Thuring Foundation Prize. Her work is represented in many of Finland’s most prestigious art collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Turku Art Museum and Vantaa Art Museum Artsi.

GALERIE FORSBLOM

Yrjönkatu 22 - 00120 Helsinki

www.galerieforsblom.com