Emma Ainala: Like a Prayer

The main characters in Emma Ainala’s works are often girls and women who linger amid luxuriant nature or in enclosed interiors. Some have transformed into spiders or snakes. One bears the features of a sphinx, while others have taken on the form of a centaur.

The exhibition presents Ainala’s works from the past ten years, bringing together both new paintings and key works from across her career. According to the artist, the exhibition title Like a Prayer refers both to the act of painting and to viewing artworks. In both situations, an individual is faced with something unknown. It is a moment that calls for letting go of control and trusting intuition.

Ainala’s richly detailed paintings are filled with references to popular culture, fashion and art history. Through her art, she seeks to defend the multifacetedness of life: alongside limiting roles, there can also be joy and possibility. In her works, women are compared to pet animals and blend into the décor around them, yet they also glow brightly in the darkness.