Julia Koivumaa
Houston, TX
Artist's Website
Artist's Statement:
My vision, my art speaks the vocabulary of creation and transformation. The bold shapes and colors evolve and change, giving glimpses of life?s essence. My life beats at the heart of my work. I always feel compelled to focus on the universality of the human condition, the vicissitudes of life and the spirit connecting us all to one another. It is imperative in my mind, to refocus ourselves from the darkness that comes from fear into the light that illuminates the beauty inherent in us all, which of course comes from love. Permeating every aspect of my work is the hopeful, transcendent, and even incandescent nature of the human spirit at its? highest peak and of the beauty of spirit with which each one of us is capable of expressing.
My chosen mediums are encaustic, acrylic and mixed media. Each medium conveys a different physical sensibility, emotional sensation and intellectual cognizance. The rich, seductive surface of my encaustic paintings diffuses light creating a feeling of depth and relief. These surface qualities, coupled with the paintings? primitivism of form, work to create a richness that invites the viewer to delve deeper, if only for that moment. The images surround the viewer with a sense of flow, by utilizing organic forms to create a feeling of fluidity that magnify the natural contrasts between the shadows and light that surround us. An endless source of inspiration for me lay in the interplay of light on, and texture of water in its? liquid state and the concepts of origin and ascension.
The most important thing is to be truthful to your own expression, to your own unique vision of life. This is something that all artists share. The majority of my paintings are simply an optimistic interpretation, reflection and response to life. Nothing more, nothing less. I do this with both eyes open, through the creation of these reminders that we are all connected to one another and with the wish to communicate this sense of hope and light to others.
"As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of pure being,"
-Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams and Reflections, 1992
