Tamara Piilola

Born in Kokkola in 1977 I Lives and works in Helsinki

Tamara Piilola engages in a conceptual play revolving around the relationship between art and science. Art has the power to transport us to different worlds, as does astronomy; the wonders of art and science offer a similar sense of aesthetic satisfaction. An artist might contemplate science while painting at the easel, and an astrophysicist might see art while examining the composition of the universe. Piilola looks at the world of ideas as something sacred and wondrous. Her paintings are a tribute to nature and the continuity of life.

For Piilola, light is the essential element of painting, followed by colors and their materiality. She fills the canvas with densely applied layers of paint, contrasting bright lights with dark shadows, occasionally including graphic motifs that permeate the picture planes like decorative patterns.

Piilola studied painting at the Turku Drawing School, the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki, and at the Leipzig Hochschule für Buchkunst. Her work is found in many significant collections including the Sara Hildén Art Museum, the Helsinki Art Museum HAM, the Wäinö Aaltonen Museum and the Didrichsen Art Museum. The artist lives and works in Helsinki.