• Pauli Tornberg
  • Pauli Tornberg
  • Pauli Tornberg
  • Pauli Tornberg
  • Pauli Tornberg
  • Pauli Tornberg
  • Pauli Tornberg

Pauli Tornberg

BENEATH THE NORTHERN SKY

Viiskulma 12.11.-23.11.2008

My paintings portray the phenomena of the night sky and the space. I’m interested in studying the most recent worlds brought to us by science and technology, and I want to include these in my painting. Tools of science, such as telescopes and the Hubble space probe, let us see further to new dimensions, brightness, and colors. Such inventions have opened doors to a new world that has so far been out of the reach of our biological senses. The complicated scientific devices form new pictures of the universe. For an artist, this is a chance to concentrate on unprecedented themes.

In addition to scientific sources, I use my own photographs of the night sky and its phenomena as parts of a wider landscape. At the moment, I’m especially interested in the urban night view, its lights and shadows.

Instead of copying, I use photographs as the basis for a painting process. I try to find a natural way of painting and portraying different kinds of natural phenomena. The most challenging part is to make the liquids and colors simulate reality – to turn the material into imprints of life.

When I paint, lots of improvisation and coincidence is involved. I let the process guide me and regulate it by terms given by the material, and the final result is often a surprise. Sometimes it takes a long time to get it all right, and sometimes the day is saved by a little miracle: the microcosm of a painting.