Riikka Sormunen (b. 1987, Finland), a Helsinki-based artist, crafts surreal paintings that are sourced from her intricate daydreams. Having started off as an illustrator and fashion designer, it was later that her creative focus turned to painting. Melding soft sensuality with calculated artificiality, Sormunen's paintings depict figures, plants and objects, all appearing to strike a pose for the viewer. Focusing on escapist pleasures, solitary meltdowns and performative femininity her detailed scenes explore pleasure, posing and sensory overload in works made of water-mixable oil paints on linen. An admirer of the early paintings of Lucien Freud, the ethereal works of Inka Essenhigh, and Japanese woodblock printing, Sormunen believes that “beauty can trick you into looking at things that are unpleasant like madness, bitterness, or shame.”
Works showing courtsey of Rhodes Editions
Riikka Sormunen (b. 1987, Finland), a Helsinki-based artist, crafts surreal paintings that are sourced from her intricate daydreams. Having started off as an illustrator and fashion designer, it was later that her creative focus turned to painting. Melding soft sensuality with calculated artificiality, Sormunen's paintings depict figures, plants and objects, all appearing to strike a pose for the viewer. Focusing on escapist pleasures, solitary meltdowns and performative femininity her detailed scenes explore pleasure, posing and sensory overload in works made of water-mixable oil paints on linen. An admirer of the early paintings of Lucien Freud, the ethereal works of Inka Essenhigh, and Japanese woodblock printing, Sormunen believes that “beauty can trick you into looking at things that are unpleasant like madness, bitterness, or shame.”
Works showing courtsey of Rhodes Editions