Sara Orava
Sara Orava ( born 1975 ) is a painter from Helsinki, known for her intense and introspective art works, moving on the edge between the physical and the psychical reality.
The human bodies that formerly populated Sara Orava’s paintings have recently vanished, leaving behind only drapery that indirectly suggests the possibility of a corporeal presence. The drapery evokes the physicality of human existence, while also alluding to the legacy of art history and the many things that clothing and drapery have expressed at different times in history, from Saint Thérèse and the Holy Face of Jesus to the illusion of fabric painted upon fabric.
In her recent works she has combined botanical studies of flowers and internal organs to the drapery. She describes essence of her painting to be something that is at once fascinating and intimidating. It hurts and it caresses, it changes its shape and it expresses itself in different things and different people. At times, it is lucidly manifest in a painting.
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Featured artwork
Sara Orava, Pale HeartTempera and oil on canvas, 50 cm x 40 cm, 2020. Photo. Jussi Tiainen
Sara Orava, Dark HeartTempera and oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm, 2020. Photo. Jussi Tiainen
Sara Orava, Folded Breath IItempera on canvas, 30 cm x 40 cm, 2020. Photo. Jussi Tiainen
Sara Orava, RosebudTempera and oil on canvas, 30 x 35 cm, 2020. Photo. Jussi Tiainen
Sara Orava, Stone Flowertempera on canvas, 32 x 30 cm, 2021. Photo. Sara Orava
Sara Orava, See Me ITempera and oil on canvas, 220 x 200 cm, 2015. Photo. Jussi Tiainen
Sara Orava, See Me IITempera and oil on canvas, 220 x 200 cm, 2015. Photo. Jussi Tiainen
Sara Orava, RosarioExhibition view, Amos Anderson Art Museum, 2015. Photo. Stella Ojala
Sara Orava, Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose nro. IVtempera on canvas, 170 cm x 140 cm, 2021. Photo. Sara Orava
Sara Orava, TreasuryTempera and oil on canvas, 2014. Photo. Terhi Ylimmäinen