Domestic Bliss

Paintings by Katri Sipiläinen at the Tampere House Gallery, 3–27 July 2025

The exhibition by Katri Sipiläinen, originally from Savonlinna, consists of watercolor paintings. The theme of the exhibition explores the contrast between light domestic happiness and the world’s troubling state. The exhibition opens on Thursday, July 3, and will be on display until July 27.

“During the painting process, I reflected on the lightness of homey happiness and, on the other hand, the heavy concern about the loss of biodiversity, climate change, and the lack of peace work. The paintings themselves, however, are left open to interpretation” the artist says.

The roots of the exhibition can be found in the book All About Love by American feminist and cultural critic bell hooks. “Home peace is especially beneficial for those living alone who are just learning to love themselves,” she writes. In this book, bell hooks explores the concept of love, expanding its meaning to include care, commitment, and a sense of responsibility, and presents it as a force for social change.

While painting, lightness appears as a calming, meditative gaze before naming. “In the newer works of the exhibition, my gaze observes the home and its inhabitants, at times reducing itself to the abstraction of color. Sensory lightness is simultaneously both powerful and worn-out, even clichéd—like the familiar moon shining in the sky, about which thousands of poems have been written without it ever losing its power,” says Sipiläinen.

Katri Sipiläinen (b. 1979) has held solo exhibitions and participated in group shows since 2001. She has explored various fields of visual art, creating not only paintings but also comics, illustrations, animations, tattoos, and prints—partly because she has only recently become aware of the limits of time. She plays experimental guitar music in the band Olimpia Splendid. Sipiläinen holds a Master’s degree in Fine Arts. The exhibition was selected by the Tampere Artists’ Association.