Lokal Creators / Saija Starr
Saija Starr is a painter living in Helsinki. Starr mainly paints with oil on canvas. Starr’s painting style is expressive, and colours play a most important role. Recent works depict nature and human nature, memories and memories of places that have left a strong trace in memory. These places include, for example, islands, mountains, seashores and gardens. We visited her studio just as the last coat of paint was drying on her pieces to be included in her Lokal White Wall exhibition, Tranquility.
Lokal Creators / Saija Starr
Saija Starr is a painter living in Helsinki. Starr mainly paints with oil on canvas. Starr’s painting style is expressive, and colours play a most important role. Recent works depict nature and human nature, memories and memories of places that have left a strong trace in memory. These places include, for example, islands, mountains, seashores and gardens. We visited her studio just as the last coat of paint was drying on her pieces to be included in her Lokal White Wall exhibition, Tranquility.
Lokal: What are some of the things that inspire your creative process?
Saija Starr: “Walking alone aimlessly is the best time for creative thinking. I observe the environment constantly and can be inspired by anything, even reflections in puddles, the shapes and colours of rocks, clouds and trees, the colours and architecture of old buildings in an urban environment. Literature, music and all art around feeds my creativity.”
L: What are the important principles in your work and approach to your work?
S.S.: “To be able to work, I need peace and a lot of mental space around me. I may be bursting with enthusiasm, but a certain solitude is necessary. In painting, it is important to be honest with oneself whilst working. It means finding a connection between the work, giving the work time, and not letting myself go easily. I am always working on several paintings so that they can dry in peace between coats, and thus there is always something to continue on. “Kill your darlings!” is one of the most important reminders for me when working.”
L: What brought you to painting?
S.S.: “I have studied environmental art and photography, for example, I love literature and music, but something in painting fascinates me the most – I have found my place. Especially the tradition of oil painting; its slowness suits me.”
L: What significance do certain places, colours and smells have in your works?
S.S.: “Colours are very important. A certain colour itself can be the starting point for a piece. I use colours to reflect feelings and they are often strongly related to the season as well. In winter I paint with bright and light colours, and in summer with dark greens and blues.
I find the American painter Joan Mitchell’s idea “I carry my landscapes around with me” very close to heart. I carry with me landscapes, spaces. I don’t so much describe the landscape as such, but more the state of mind, memories and an atmosphere related to a certain place.”
Shop: Saija Starr’s Works
-
Sold -
760,00 € -
1200,00 € -
Sold -
Sold -
Sold -
760,00 € -
Sold -
Sold -
Sold -
Sold
Explore: Lokal Creators
Lokal Creators / Akiko Mori
Akiko Mori was born in Japan and studied sculpture at Art University in Tokyo. In 2022 she opened her new studio in Helsinki, which we visited to mark her Lokal White Wall exhibition, Geometric Spaces. She is interested in how physical properties, such as clay density and water content, affect the fluidity of the clay.
Lokal Creators / Benjamin Murphy
Benjamin Murphy, born in West Yorkshire, is a globally exhibiting visual artist. His current work explores themes of polarity, time, memory, and contrast – often rendered in charcoal on raw canvas. We visited his studio in Helsinki just before he set up his Lokal White Wall exhibition, Éanáir.
Lokal Creators / Sini Villi
Sini Villi is a textile artist living and working in Helsinki, Finland. In her work Villi uses handmade ribbon to create three-dimensional textile reliefs and sculptures. We visited her Helsinki studio on a summer afternoon just after she’d set up her White Wall exhibition, Ammonites.
Lokal Creators / Fanny Tavastila
Fanny Tavastila is a painter who lives and works in Helsinki. We visited her studio at the Cable Factory one dark November afternoon to get a closer look at her works, which posess an innate and lyrical sense of colour, rhythm, texture and composition.