SIRPA PAJUNEN-MOGHISSI

Inspiration for Sirpa's work is drawn from her childhood memories in her native Finland. On the surface, her finnish heritage nurtures a Nordic spirit of cool calm in her paintings. However, on closer crutiny, her work is also an almost imperceptible narrative of Finnish society alluding to etiquette, family relationships, vernacular architecture and time-honoured tradition.

Black charcoal lines drawn on top of pale colours create a multi-layered surface. The painted background is often based on photographs found in her family albums or simply a pattern or wallpaper seen on those same photographs. Somehow the paintings reflect the landscape and climate of this extraordinary and somewhat enigmatic country. Stories told by Sirpa lie somethere between the real and unreal. remembered and imagined. People, objects and nature are manifested on these canvasses with minimal impact; the language of her paintings must be looked for among the hazy lines and shapes that evoke the snow-covered landscapes of her native Finland. Every picture tells a story and Sirpa's paintings are transient memories and moments frozen in time.

Sirpa Pajunen-Moghissi has been exhibiting both in the UK and Finland since 1992. In 1996 she graduated from the Byham Shaw School of Art with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art and later from the Middlesex University with an MA in Fine Art. Sirpa has been a tutor at the Shadwell Centre Art Foundation since 1997.

Paintings