Representations of the vitalism of life

”The paintings deal with an individual’s inner struggle: the relationship between the fear of death and existence. How to find meaning in the midst of addictions? A person is disturbed by the desire to be freed from moral control and sense of security. On the other hand, everything, the whole life, can be experienced as senseless and pointless. I try to deal with the tension between these things in my paintings.

The western worldview is based on the vulgarization of market capitalism. Its influence on scientific reductionism and materialism is life-threatening, even perverse. In this concept of reality the whole world is seen as a mere production instrument in which life is outsourced: emotions are outsourced to entertainment, production to production facilities. Environment and society are fueling a spirit of competition between individuals, leaving persistent memory traces.

Life is based on death, but paradoxically death is hidden. Sex is also a fundamental part of life, but it has become pornographic and  full of violent fantasies. Often the individual feels that he is completely powerless within the powers he has created. We live in a hybrid of technology and individualism where the ultimate sensation is confusion or total lack of values.

My work sometimes appears filled with nihilism, where hope has no presence. However, I feel that my paintings are representations of the vitalism of life. Perhaps because of this, the form and content of the paintings are the way they are. In my view of art one can feel uneasiness in front of the provoking work which at the same time can leave you feeling the ultimate vitalism, the strengthening feeling of the existential experience.

The same thing happens also when one tries to understand his own mortality. It is the death which enables us to even feel any kind of passion in life. Nevertheless it is never uncomplicated but requires continuous redefinition. A work of art is view of the world, a proposition, even a thesis – and the art experience is the subjective interpretation of these propositions.”

Mikko Rekonen, 2022