Tuukka Tammisaari’s (b. 1984) oil paintings cover a wide spectrum ranging from cheeky playfulness to heavy monochrome. The artist describes art-making is his way of compiling an inventory of certain thoughts, events, stories, and feelings. Searching for the new and the unknown is both a perpetual challenge and source of inspiration for Tammisaari, whose work is informed by the legacy of western painting and allusions to art history, from minimalism through to German Neo-Expressionism.
Mixing representation and abstraction, Tammisaari’s paintings portray subjects such as blueberry sprigs and patterns on a kitchen tablecloth, with each detail carrying its own particular narrative relevance and personal significance. Tammisaari regards abstraction as the most precise possible form of documentation, as it is dependent solely on the retina and brain chemistry. His paintings marvel at the miracles of biology, humankind’s imprint on our planet, and the vast difference of scale existing between biological minutiae and the cosmos.
Tammisaari often paints with an oil stick, giving his paintings a sense of immediacy and child-like exuberance. The layers of paint in his most recent works are thinner here and there, allowing glimpses of the white primer to show through in patches. The artist analyses his relationships with colors by consciously avoiding the temptation to only favor colors that please his own eye. He also deliberately chooses his least favorite colors in cases where this seems necessary for the paintings to become themselves.
Tuukka Tammisaari’s work is found in numerous private collections in Finland, Denmark, the USA, Austria, and Iceland. The artist is based in Helsinki.