Vernissage

December 1, 6 - 9 pm

In the presence of the artist

A warm welcome!

Snow is delighted to present OLD SALT, Mirka Raito’s first solo exhibition at Snow.

Essential for life, the eternal, ubiquitous substance, the preserving, destroying, seducing salt has been a continuous ingredient in Mirka Raito’s working process, visible and invisible, pulling the colour together or glistening on the surface of the paper.

“Old salt, vanha suola, makes you thirsty, like the alluring ex-lover’s pull, in a Finnish saying. In more general terms, there are things and ingredients in life such as salt that never vanish, but morph into another form appearing again as a mark, stain, tears, sweat, from skin…With my art, I am working through old bumps of my past, that still today affect life, that still sting like salt in a wound. I find something intimate and universal, something exquisite in salt, evoked images of landscapes and traces, of taste and scent.

In the exhibition OLD SALT I present new paintings and collages in ensemble with different frames and fabrics. My work process is both play and survival, an attempt to find solid ground for lightness and to clarify internal and external chaos. I enjoy material surprises that arise when combining ink, pigment, acrylic, liquids, salt, papers and found objects. I have been experimenting with symmetry and random forms, like in my acrylic collages made with the so-called Rorschach technique. I am fascinated by the idea of multi-layered and seducing images that can at the same time resemble the (human) body or its parts, an intimate encounter, an experience with music or nature, a handwritten letter... Through my work I strive to create a free space; a connection between personal and universal, secret and joke, surreal and real.”

Mirka Raito, Hamburg, 13.11.2022

Biography

Mirka Raito (1975) is a Finnish visual artist based in Hamburg, Germany. She grew up in Helsinki, Finland and spent a lot of time playing in spinneys and backyards between concrete and trees. The atmosphere of transit, waiting and longing for somewhere else that prevailed in her childhood had a strong influence on Raito's artistic work and on her way of being in the world.

Raito studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki and graduated from the department of painting in 2002 (MA). Since 2003, Raito has lived in Hamburg and completed postgraduate studies at the Hamburg University of Arts in 2006-08. More than 20 years Raito has actively presented her works in solo and group exhibitions in Finland and in Germany. Raito is member of artist-run gallery Huuto in Helsinki, where she has held and organized several solo and group exhibitions. One of the most important was Huuto‘s group exhibition at the Subvision Festival in Hamburg in 2009. Raito is one of the founding members of the artist collective JOKAklubi (2009-). The collaboration with long-term colleagues and visual artists Niina Lehtonen Braun and Tellervo Kalleinen is an important part of Raito‘s artist activities. Together the trio makes participatory performances, events, audio- and video works.

Mirka Raito’s work encompasses multiple mediums like painting, drawing, installation, performance and collage. Essential for her artistic work are intuitive and playful working processes as well as emotional and intimate atmosphere. After her exhibition at Galleria Snow Raito presents her work in a group exhibition in June 2023 at Porvoo Art Hall, Finland. At the moment she is working with the support of a 2-year Grant of Kone Foundation.