Irene Suosalo

Sampo Apajalahti

Sampo Apajalahti, b.1980 Järvenpää Finland, is interested in themes such as time passing, past, time, place, and visual and technical possibilities of painting in general. His painting process can be described as slow & troublesome, and it contains several different stages. Apajalahti`s paintings are usually based on precise observational drawings, and the observations are transfered to a larger canvas by using specific calculations. The sharp lines discovered in his paintings, similar to the ruler lines in observational drawings, are made by taping. The colors and values are usually made up his own mind. Apajalahti´s painting process includes a lot of measuring, calculating and taping, and therefore traditional paintbrush and palette work is only one part of the process. Nevertheless, it´s important to him that the finished painting is traditional oil painting. In his works Apajalahti is combining different ways of working: Observational drawing, traditional color painting, compulsive taping, photographing, and occasionally even expressive painting. His works often contain “a picture within a picture” which is used to challenge the ways of looking an artwork. Usually in his paintings there are at least two different subjects: The spatial painting in itself, and the subject of the pictures shown inside the painting. In recent years, as a reference for “pictures within pictures” in his works, Apajalahti have used e.g. his childhood photos, childhood paintings, snapshots of tags in bar toilets, or 1980´s abstract paintings. In some of his paintings Apajalahti also paints illusion of slip of paper, that show notes or sketches from the earlier stage of his painting process.

Location

Uusimaa

Born

1980

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Featured artwork

Sampo Apajalahti, UpstairsOil on MDF-board, 240 x 185 cm, 2018. Photo: Sampo Apajalahti

Sampo Apajalahti, Studio View IIOil, alkyd & pencil on MDF-board, 190 x 160 cm, 2019. Photo: Sampo Apajalahti

Sampo Apajalahti, Wall #1Oil & pencil on canvas, 40 x 32 cm, 2019. Photo: Sampo Apajalahti

Sampo Apajalahti, Wall #13Alkyd & oil on aluminium, 90 x 75 cm, 2020, framed. Photo: Sampo Apajalahti

Why I paint like a child?Sampo Apajalahti, Why I paint like a child?, Oil on canvas, 240 cm x 200 cm ,2021-2022. Photo: Sampo Apajalahti.

Detail of “Why I paint like a child?”Sampo Apajalahti, Detail of “Why I paint like a child?”, Oil on canvas, 2021-2022. Photo: Sampo Apajalahti.

I saw a lot of abstract art when I was a child (a self portrait)Sampo Apajalahti, I saw a lot of abstract art when I was a child (a self portrait), Acrylic, oil & alkyd on canvas, 200 cm x 160 cm ,2023. Photo: Sampo Apajalahti.

Abstract painting #3Sampo Apajalahti, Abstract painting #3, Acrylic on canvas, 50 cm x 50 cm ,2022. Photo: Sampo Apajalahti.

Red houseSampo Apajalahti, Red house, Oil & alkyd on canvas, 180 cm x 140 cm ,2022. Photo: Sampo Apajalahti.

Curriculum Vitae

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