photo by Kristoffer Åberg

Satu Rautiainen

Satu Rautiainen (b. 1982) has graduated in 2008 from the department of painting of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts. Since then she has had private exhibitions and has also taken part in group exhibitions in Finland and abroad. In addition to her artistic work, she has been active in various artist-run associations.

In her artistic work, Rautiainen studies the interface between art, crafts, and industrial design from the point of view of femininity and painting. She found out that textiles are also written history of women. As a part of her work, Rautiainen studies textile techniques and want to combine these two techniques, painting and textiles based on paintings in her art. Individual paintings and fabrics fashioned after them create spatial ensembles.

Rautiainen paints with aquarelles on paper and with oil colors. With the large scale aquarelles she is contemplating traditions of painting and painting in modern time. Her aquarelles also compare to walls and living spaces. Exhibition ensembles are spaces where viewer can step in but she also believes in the power of individual paintings.

Rautiainen is interested in alternative ways of living and she is interested in the border between madness and rationally. There is also playfulness in her works and a whimsical alter ego is present in the artistic process. Last years Rautiainen has worked with the Village bohemian series which deals with homelessnes, madness and melancholy of life but also with joy of doing art and the fire of creativity.

Rautiainen’s paintings are found in several public art collections, such as those of the Finnish state, Wihuri and Saastamoinen foundations, Kiasma, EMMA (Espoo Museum of Modern Art), and the Art Museum of Helsinki. She lives and works in Helsinki, Finland.