Artist Anja Salonen's unsettling pastel dreamscapes

Date
19 December 2016

Anja Salonen’s paintings have more than a splash of Jack Sachs’ technicolour plasticine world about them. While her oddly-coloured figures have often human bodies, more surreal elements can be found in their faces, which bear Mr Potato Head-esque additions in the form of poster-paint toned noses, eyes and lips. Meditations on the pain and despair of simply existing (because we’ve all felt like hugging a fence at some stage in our lives), Anja’s dreamscapes may not be a happy place to live, but their candy colours keep them looking appealing — on first glance anyway.

LA-born and bred, Anja Salonen studied fine art at California Institute of the Arts. She’s already had two solo shows in her hometown — Future Bodies and Second Skin — and has a third in the pipeline for 2017.

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Anja Salonen

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Anja Salonen

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Anja Salonen

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Anja Salonen

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Anja Salonen

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Anja Salonen

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Anja Salonen

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Anja Salonen

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About the Author

Bryony Stone

Bryony joined It's Nice That as Deputy Editor in August 2016, following roles at Mother, Secret Cinema, LAW, Rollacoaster and Wonderland. She later became Acting Editor at It's Nice That, before leaving in late 2018.

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