Outi Kotala

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Concept

Outi Kotala is an artist and a designer living in Finland. In her art making Outi Kotala seeks equanimity and stillness of mind, freedom from internal and external expectations. As an artist, she sees herself as a conduit for inspiration. For this, Kotala keeps refining an abstract artwork until the pieces click into place on the canvas, the artwork finds a balanced vibration and is lit with internal light. Essential part of Outi Kotala's artistic process is meditation. The simplified symbols for Kotala's abstract works often show themselves to her in meditation, sometimes in her dreams. These archetypal themes are pre-eminently aesthetic in nature, relying on the expressive power of colors. Kotala's main mediums are oil pastels and oil colors. Kotala's works have been described as meditative, symbolistic and peaceful. Her works often have an affecting or almost moving effect on their audience, probably because of the intense colours and balance between the colour areas.

Concept

Outi Kotala is an artist and a designer living in Finland. In her art making Outi Kotala seeks equanimity and stillness of mind, freedom from internal and external expectations. As an artist, she sees herself as a conduit for inspiration. For this, Kotala keeps refining an abstract artwork until the pieces click into place on the canvas, the artwork finds a balanced vibration and is lit with internal light.

Essential part of Outi Kotala's artistic process is meditation. The simplified symbols for Kotala's abstract works often show themselves to her in meditation, sometimes in her dreams. These archetypal themes are pre-eminently aesthetic in nature, relying on the expressive power of colors. Kotala's main mediums are oil pastels and oil colors.

Kotala's works have been described as meditative, symbolistic and peaceful. Her works often have an affecting or almost moving effect on their audience, probably because of the intense colours and balance between the colour areas.

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Biography

Personal history

Born 1974 in Rovaniemi (Lapland) Finland
2001 Graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts, majoring in Media Art, from Tampere University of Applied Sciences, Department of Art and media
2006 Graduated with a degree of Master of Arts in New Media, from Aalto University in 2006 (then called University of Arts and Design Helsinki)
2008-2012 studies classical arts in private art school in Helsinki, completing the school's four-year curriculum in 2012

During her artistic career, Outi Kotala has moved from new media and computer-based interactive art works towards more classical, traditional painting and drawing. Her work is based strongly on the meditative methods of art making, taught by her long-term art teachers Nagashila Hämäläinen and (late) Matti Kurki, who both represent long meditation traditions from different philosophical backgrounds. For Kotala, the Buddhist tradition of meditation and dharma practice is an important part of her life and art making. She has roots in Lapland and also has a part-Karelian ancestry, which has contributed to her intimate and almost shamanistic relationship with nature and creative expression.

Outi Kotala has a studio space in the city of Tampere, where she currently works and lives. To counterbalance her studio work Kotala does plein-air painting in nature, especially in the summer. To her, landscape painting is returning to the concrete, a liberation from the diligent attention to abstraction and clarity in their abstract art.

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Awards

2001 Pixxelpoint International Computer Art Festival, first price in the Interactive work category

Group Exhibitions

2021 “Colours and Movements” Group exhibition, Gallery Kookos Helsinki Finland 01.09.-19.09.2021

2015 Art Fair Suomi 2015. Cable Factory, Helsinki Finland 18.-20. 9. 2015.

2015 ”Itse teossa” group exhibition at gallery Ronga, Tampere Finland 23. 6. – 9. 7. 2015

2012 “Thoughts on Existence” joint exhibition with Marja Tikka at gallery S-galleria, Helsinki Finland 31. 7. – 27. 8.

2009 “Chaos” paintings and animation at gallery Nunes Helsinki Finland, 4. – 22. 11. 2009. Joint exhibition with Marja Tikka.

2007 “Bazaar of Banalities” open media-art happening & www-site together with Live Herring group. Jyväskylä Finland 12. – 15. 7. 2007

2006 Group art exhibition “Valkoinen” STOA gallery, Helsinki Finland 19.12. – 2006 – 5. 1. 2007

2002 “The Web” internet installation in Rupriikki museum of Tampere Finland. In cooperation with Tampere City Museum and Tampere University Hypermedialaboratorio.