Reima Nevalainen

Consisting of collage and other mixed media techniques, Reima Nevalainen’s paintings are all about the material world and our perception of it. In his work collage means accumulation of layers of paper and paint to enable a delicate sculpting of layers. This means that the process and history of the painting is often visible in the resulting image. Omissions, surgical cuts are as important a part of Nevalainen’s work as is the matter that is left to see. In his words ”a finished painting is not what’s been created but what remains.”

This leads to broken images; a sense of fragility and uncertainty are underlying emotions in many of Nevalainen’s works. For him weakness and imperfections are not negatives but should be embraced in this age of self branding, sugar-coated public image and unhealthy pursue of healthiness. Reima Nevalainen’s work invites us to quiet down and feel the wonder of the real, and remember our nameless, common body underneath the paper thin individual features and differences – stories and exciting personalities are just layers that have been cut out and left on the studio floor. The same way as we see forms in the abstract, Nevalainen proposes the opposite: how about we look at the abstract behind the form? ”It’s only us humans who tricked ourselves into seeing forms in the clouds.”

Reima Nevalainen was selected as the Young Artist of the Year in Finland in 2016 and has exhibited his works outside of Finland in US, Europe and Japan. Reima Nevalainen is represented by Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki (FI).

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