Krista Kortelainen (b. 1972) is a Helsinki-based painter for whom creative work is above all about observation and exploration. She often takes water or a landscape as her starting point, using it as a guide into the world of colour.
“When I paint, I embark on an adventure. My working process always involves hopes and expectations of a successful journey. I follow the painting as it takes shape, observing how the colours I mix create new landscapes within the work,” Kortelainen explains. “When a work is completed, I feel invigorated, and through the painting I live my own life.”
Last December, Kortelainen spent three weeks in Japan, and her most recent works were inspired by the journey. As before, the paintings are based on an exploration of colour and composition. The subjects include different manifestations of water, both in Japanese gardens and in its free-flowing forms in nature. “I follow flowing visual vistas. I look for moments of culmination within them and let the water seduce me.”
Krista Kortelainen: Ikebana in Water III, 2026, acrylic on canvas, 70 × 88 cm
