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Riikka Salminen (s. 1988, Helsinki) works mainly with oil paints and watercolors. She processes the themes in her paintings in relation to art history, contemporary art and the experience of painting. 
Salminen’s paintings are usually direct or indirect self-portraits and she deals with themes like the joys and difficulties of creativity, feelings that arise from challenging situations and what it’s like to build an identity in the world we live in. Her paintings usually have a bit of humor and irony in them, despite their serious subjects.  
 
To her a painting is like a mask – a part of herself yet separate: a mask that helps her express unconscious thoughts and feelings which would otherwise be left unsaid. 
 
Salminen has an arts degree from from Pekka Halonen Academy from 2013 and both BFA(2018) and MFA(2021) degrees in Contemporary Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki. 
 
Salminen is currently living and working in Helsinki. 

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