An exhibition titled “Ikimuistoiset hetket” by Tuuli Meriläinen opens in the Malmitalo Gallery on Wednesday, 12th June. The exhibition will showcase a new painting series called ”Modern Fairytales” by the artist. ”Modern Fairytales” depicts people’s most memorable nature experiences. For the series Meriläinen has done interviews and is using them as inspiration to her works. Second painting series called ”Rauha” shown in exhibition is done in her usual theme and depicts deer fawns.

Two painting series shown in exhibition consist of works mainly from year 2023–2024. Both series are executed in her recognisable style. Meriläinen is known for her bold use of colour and detailed animal pictures. Focus of the Malmitalo exhibition is to highlight the new painting series ”Modern Fairytales”. In the exhibition you can read the stories that inspired the paintings and the stories that didn’t make it to this exhibition. You can also write down and leave your own story for the artist to freely use in upcoming exhibitions.

For the ”Modern Fairytales” series Meriläinen did interviews at the beginning of the year 2024. For the series, Meriläinen has interviewed people face to face and got to know the pictures and other material related to the stories. The reports have been written down and their publication has been requested permission from interviewees. Meriläinen was granted a working grant by Karjalan kulttuurirahasto to focus on working with the series.

The inspiration for the ”Modern Fairytales” series goes back to exhibition opening in 2022. In the vernissage she was told an impressive and inspiring story that got her to think about recording it in painting. With the help of the working grant, she focused on collecting stories from people who were closely connected to

nature by work or hobbies.

The second series shown in the exhibition is called ”Rauha” and it depicts young fawns in abstract landscapes. Meriläinen plays with colour layers and mixes bold colours. But still maintains a calm atmosphere in her works. The goal of the paintings is to bring joy and happiness to a viewer. Visually pleasing fawns are in favour of young families with children and works are easy to connect with.

Meriläinen’s exhibition is a versatile mix of works and showcase her style well. Atmosphere is light and mostly cheery and a pleasant way to spend a few moments in peace.