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"Refined Craftsmanship" Defines Natalie Salminen's Paintings
Finnish
American artist Natalie Salminen says, "...when I paint, when I stumble
on the right image or right color, the feeling I have is indescribable. It's
a surge of pure clarity and joy. It's exciting, but also very peaceful. It's
the moment where I know 'that's it!'. At that point I know I have captured
(on the canvas or the sculpture) what I had been trying to find, although
not knowing exactly what it was I was looking for."
Natalie had an exhibition of her recent work at the Washington Galleries in
Duluth, Minnesota. In a review of the show in a local newspaper, Julia Durst
says "Salminen reveals a refined vision and technique...(the) refinement
is in her craftsmanship, consistency, and skill at making the understated
visually potent. She uses oil, acrylic, and wax on deep, boxy canvases, often
scratching back into the layers of paint. Due to its heft and surface texture,
her work has a physical presence rarely seen in paintings." All of the
paintings that were exhibited are now online in full color at
www.kantele.com/Natalie/index.html.
In an interview with the New World Finn recently, Natalie talked about her
life and art. As an artist, and as an everyday person living in this world,
Natalie "strives for everything rich and beautiful and emotive."
There are moments of life happening all the time, every day that catch her
attention - such as a boy with a dog on a bus in a Latin American country,
or on another day looking up and seeing the electric lines run past a cafe
window.
"I wish people could see these things that I see, and feel the way that
I feel about them - the beauty in those telephone wires, or - like this morning
after taking a quick dip in Lake Superior - seeing the incredible soft and
hazy pink over the water - there's these little heart swells - those are the
moments that infuse me with energy throughout the day. I think everyone could
have a little boost if they could see this beauty," Natalie says.
Natalie acknowledges that she is young and just beginning her life as an artist.
It is both exciting and daunting, she says. "I'm afraid of not reaching
my full potential. I could live out of fear. But, when you live out of fear
you stagnate. Especially if you're an artist. It's always a bit daunting to
share your innermost thoughts - spread out onto the canvas for everyone to
see. That's scary.
"In my work I'm putting out into the world what is within me. It's not
my intention to engage people, but if someone becomes engaged, I'm pleased.
I do want people to connect with my work - that's important to me. I wish
people could see the things that I see and to feel the way that I feel about
them.
"It's so interesting to have feedback. People looking at my work will
see something that I have not ever thought about before. Every one has a different
opinion or they see something else. I love that huge broad range - the way
that people see things."
Natalie
says that she feels little separation between her art and her feelings. "There
was one in my July show in Duluth called "Why are we drowning?"
that had strong emotional connections. (See a detail of the painting on
this page.) I had done that one the day before the show. It was about
something personal that I was wrestling with. When the thought entered my
mind and when I wrote the line 'why are we drowning?' on the painting, I was
thinking this is the world, why are we struggling, why? why? why?
"That piece really means a lot to me. I haven't found out why we're drowning.
But spiritually we are drowning - we as the human race. People would not call
me a pessimist, but I think on the whole we're more selfish, that we're more
concerned about ourselves, and less concerned about others. Life is built
on relationships, and if your relationships crumble, it's a downward spiral
from there.
"We need relationships to survive, they are the basis of everything.
If our relationships are failing with each other, its probably a good indication
they're failing with our spiritual connection as well. I believe that I'm
a spiritual being, but that doesn't mean that all my paintings will be about
me being a spiritual being."
"The value of art for me is not monetary, but art is definitely worth
something. For me making money or achieving some degree of fame is not why
I'm an artist. I've been given a gift - the least that I can do is exercise
it and share it with others. It brings me joy and blessings and it can be
so rich and fulfilling in not only making art, but sharing it. That's probably
a lot of the fuel that drives me."
Natalie says that she has always known that art was her passion. She says
that she also knew she wanted to travel before she went to college. She had
attended North Dakota State for a semester, but "that didn't appeal to
me at all". I was young and wanted to travel - but with purpose.
She volunteered to work on a Mercy Ship - humanitarian, non-denominational
medical ships that operate off of Central America, Africa, and South America.
She applied, was accepted, and soon was working in a galley aboard ship. At
one point she and nine others left the ship and spent two months in Israel/Palestine
where they did humanitarian work. This was in 1997 when violence was escalating
- the day after they arrived there was a suicide bombing in a square down
the street from where they were working.
Returning to the US, Natalie resumed her studies in art and graduated from
the University of Wisconsin in Superior. She says that she will always be
practicing her arts - painting, sculpture, wood block prints - but that she
also wants to finish studies to become a midwife. Natalie expects to attend
the International School of Midwifery in Ashland, Oregon.
When not creating art or traveling, Natalie spends much of her time in the
natural outdoors, or in a kitchen - since she loves "all things culinary".