Sami Lukkarinen (b. 1976) paints social media profile pictures using a palette knife, translating digital data into oil, pixel by pixel. Reproducing a pixelated image in oil paint requires a highly precise color analysis, a process which foregrounds the complex relationship between painting and photography. Lukkarinen’s sense of rhythm and flawless eye for color creates a richly textured tapestry of elegantly interwoven pixels. His latest exhibition also features black-and-white paintings.

Timeline is a highly personal exhibition for Lukkarinen. Marking a departure from his earlier use of photographs taken by other social media users, this time Lukkarinen posted his own photographs and used these as the raw material for his paintings. For his series Yhden suhde yhteen (Valtti) the artist documented the growth of his son Valtti in photographs, transforming these digital images into life-size oil paintings.

The public’s ravenous interest in profile pictures reflects an interesting shift in the role of portraiture. Social media has expanded our relationship with images, portraits and self-portraits. Profile pictures are usually selfies, or at least self-chosen. Lukkarinen mines his raw material from social media, where he then ultimately also publishes his paintings.

Lukkarinen graduated from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2001. He has held numerous solo exhibitions and taken part in group exhibitions in Finland and abroad. His works are found in major public collections such the Helsinki Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma and the Saastamoinen Foundation Collection. The artist lives and works in Helsinki.