Eerola’s paintings engage in close study of the way one experiences images. In her new exhibition, spatial experiences are conveyed through the idea of a garden.

Eeva-Riitta Eerola’s paintings seem to materialize like apparitions, exuding effortless simplicity, but also a sense of potency. Echoing her desire to simplify, Eerola has named her new exhibition after a single letter of the alphabet: C. 

This emblem can be read in many ways: as a visual symbol, as a phoneme, or even as a word. Visually, its shape both encloses and opens outwards, recalling the phase of the lunar cycle when the Moon is visible only as a narrow crescent. 

In ancient carvings, the map of the Garden of Eden is inscribed as a fertile crescent at the confluence of four rivers, or as a rounded vessel containing paradise.

Abstracted maps, streams and paths are among the prominent recurring elements in Eerola’s paintings, as are hands and eyes. The eye motif is significant in that the letter ‘C’ can represent the English verb ‘to see’, or its imperative form. Eerola’s paintings invite our gaze to roam and for us to immerse ourselves experientially. 

Helsinki Contemporary
11.4.-4.5.2025
Tue-Fri 12.00-18.00

Sat-Sun 12.00-16.00
Closed: April 18-21, May 1

Free entry