Over the past two decades, Päiväläinen’s unique works have become internationally renowned through their idiosyncratic language and style based upon her deep sense for story-telling. Her spatial compositions can be reduced to three elements: nature, textiles, and light. The chosen landscape is not just an objective topographical phenomenon but a very personal choice. Mostly isolated, pristine, spared from human activity, it is both an inspiration and a temporary scene that becomes the starting point for her photographs, crafting spaces that feel oddly foreign and familiar at once. Päiväläinen’s landscapes animate the fabrics, revealing them as carriers of human traces; the fabrics, in turn, unveil and enhance the true essence of the landscapes. The intricate, labyrinthine ribbon formations, reminiscent of cobwebs and nests, appear as if they have grown out of their environment naturally. They seem organically interwoven with it, sometimes even camouflaged. In these works, exterior and interior landscapes are bound together.

Riitta Päiväläinen (*1969 in Maaninka, Finland) lives and works in Helsinki. Her work has been presented in several solo and group exhibitions, most recently at the Denver Art Museum (Denver, 2018), The Museum of Photography (Seoul, 2018), Gallery Taik Persons (Berlin, 2018) or the Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center (Budapest, 2017).