Featured Artist

Practicing since the mid-1990s, Arja has completed her BFA and MFA at the University of NSW, Sydney. She has exhibited widely in both Australia and Finland, including twenty-one solo exhibitions. She has been a finalist in the prestigious Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW; Sculpture by the Sea, Sydney; Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Arts Centre and the Sydney Living Museums Meroogal Women’s Art Prize. Arja has won numerous awards and grants, including a scholarship to study her MFA. Arja was also named 2004 Young Kalevala Artist of the Year, Finland. Arja Välimäki’s works are held in public and private collections in USA, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany and Finland.

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Artist Statement

My underwater series depicts abstracted underwater scenes where schools of fish swim and swirl in harmony. The impressionist application of a single colour per brush-stroke, each representing a fish, works to create a varied depth of field and an almost three-dimensional appearance. In vibrant blues and greens with pops of red, yellow or magenta, my paintings appear alive with movement, texture and colour. This series of works talks about my connection and love towards nature, especially the ocean. This series depicts abstracted underwater scenes and is full of movement, texture and an array of ocean colours. The titles of the paintings reveal the inspiration behind the paintings, schools of fish swirling around. I apply my brush strokes when in a Zen-like state of mind, where my mood dictates the final mark making. This practice is performed in solitude to sustain the focused, relaxed and joyful mental state. The colours I use are instinctively chosen to create an almost three-dimensional effect on the two-dimensional canvas surface. Recently, I have incorporated a new technique to soften areas of the paintings and to further the depth of field. I love exploring and experimenting with the mediums I choose to achieve a visual feast in the viewer’s eye.