The processes of renewal and innovation are inherent in the work of Raatikainen. He is fascinated with expanding the language of painting and the risks therein, finding meaningful significance in experimenting and juxtaposing new techniques and materials.
Raatikainen's paintings share a common theme of nature and its transitional states. He is intrigued by the continuous shifting of the natural world; the material transformation through changing seasons, the cut trunks and branches of forests, and land altered by a human hand.
The artist’s methods include a technique of painting separate acrylic sheets that are collaged onto the canvas, giving the finished painting a unique sensitive threaded and fragile quality. The many stages of this process are guided by intuition and the qualities of the materials used.
Raatikainen’s finished works balance the interaction between planned methodologies and spontaneity of intuitive creation, resulting in a tension between control and its absence. Furthermore the variation of tactile qualities across the painting’s surface links them, through changing reflection of light, to their surroundings at any given moment.
Raatikainen’s works do not place a high priority on thematic recognition, but like memories bring patterns of places to the surface shifting between irrevocable deterioration, entropy and transformation.
Samu Raatikainen (born 1971) lives in Turku, Finland. He has recently been awarded an Artist Grant for five years from 2019 to 2023 by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland. In 2009 he was one of the recipients of the Finnish Art Society’s William Thuring Award and in 2003 he was granted the title of Young Artist of the Year.
Raatikainen lived over a decade in the United Kingdom and graduated as a Master of Arts at the Chelsea College of Art & Design, London in 1997. He was previously enrolled at the Free Art School in Helsinki (1991–1994). The artist’s works are included in several museums and public collections in Finland, including the Heino Art Foundation.
Raatikainen's paintings share a common theme of nature and its transitional states. He is intrigued by the continuous shifting of the natural world; the material transformation through changing seasons, the cut trunks and branches of forests, and land altered by a human hand.
The artist’s methods include a technique of painting separate acrylic sheets that are collaged onto the canvas, giving the finished painting a unique sensitive threaded and fragile quality. The many stages of this process are guided by intuition and the qualities of the materials used.
Raatikainen’s finished works balance the interaction between planned methodologies and spontaneity of intuitive creation, resulting in a tension between control and its absence. Furthermore the variation of tactile qualities across the painting’s surface links them, through changing reflection of light, to their surroundings at any given moment.
Raatikainen’s works do not place a high priority on thematic recognition, but like memories bring patterns of places to the surface shifting between irrevocable deterioration, entropy and transformation.
Samu Raatikainen (born 1971) lives in Turku, Finland. He has recently been awarded an Artist Grant for five years from 2019 to 2023 by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland. In 2009 he was one of the recipients of the Finnish Art Society’s William Thuring Award and in 2003 he was granted the title of Young Artist of the Year.
Raatikainen lived over a decade in the United Kingdom and graduated as a Master of Arts at the Chelsea College of Art & Design, London in 1997. He was previously enrolled at the Free Art School in Helsinki (1991–1994). The artist’s works are included in several museums and public collections in Finland, including the Heino Art Foundation.