Kristiina Sario:
Sweet Dreams

Kristiina Sario’s exhibition features tempera paintings in which mythical heroes have permission to rest. Sario’s technique is ancient egg tempera, which is rarely seen in contemporary art.

The painting reference in Sweet Dreams is the traditional European hero and knight ethos and the demand for action and bravery that they present. The mythical men have crossed mountains and sliced dragon heads while the women have grown hair in towers or waited in eternal sleep. The male characters in this exhibition have been allowed to take a resting position. Some have perhaps fallen into a hundred-year sleep.

The exhibition at Gallery Katariina is the third part of a series of solo exhibitions that are united by the same main theme related to mannerisms of narrative tradition. Contemporary narratives maintain power structures and myths have intertwined into a tight weave with history writing. The first part of the series, Girls and Sticks, was seen in the spring of 2025 at Galleria Aarni in Espoo. The second part, Boys, What's Up, was on display at the Porvoo Art Hall in early 2026.

I paint with ancient tempera technique, where I prepare the paint myself. I make tempera from color pigment, egg yolk and other binders. The works are painted on birch plywood or on canvas attached to wood. The painting process is laborious and time-consuming which I feel has a special place in this time. For me painting is documenting, thinking and remembering.

– Kristiina Sario

Kristiina Sario is a visual artist (MA) who has focused on painting and especially tempera techniques in her production. She has studied fine arts in London, Tampere and Turku. Sario's works are in the collection of Tampere Art Museum among others. She is a member of the Tampere Artists' Association and the Finnish Painters' Association. Born in the Finnish countryside of Karjalohja in 1979, Sario now lives and works in Tampere.

This exhibition is supported by Taike Pirkanmaa.