work

Portals

In the body of work, “Portals,” Muriel Kuoppala’s solo exhibition at Forum Box gallery in Helsinki, 2022, the artist delves deep into her subconscious to create a series of large-scale paintings that explore spirituality and mysticism. Drawing from the tradition of spiritually motivated art that inspired many modernist artists of the early 20th century.

Her abstract visual language—composed of planetary forms and swirling fields of color—suggests infinite possibilities and evokes spaces that may exist between dimensions. The interplay of symmetry and organic shape connects her paintings both to the natural world and to realms beyond it. These images are not anchored in time; rather, they capture moments of transition, gateways, thresholds between the seen and the unseen.

Rather than constructing compositions in a conventional sense, Kuoppala allows her paintings to arise from visions that emerge intuitively—images surfacing from a void where nothing yet exists but all potential dwells. Paint is delicately applied to unprimed canvas, a process that leaves no room for correction. Water and pigment move with their own vitality across the surface, yet remain subtly directed by the artist’s hand.

For Kuoppala, this method is a form of meditation—a balance between control and surrender. Her practice reflects a fascination with the underlying structure of existence: the invisible forces, laws, and bindings that hold the world together.