Article in SCAN Magazine by By Molly McPharlin
Not everyone gets the chance to follow their dream. Taking a chance and starting a business based on your passion takes courage, but this is exactly what Lotta Sirén has done. In 2018, after finishing a business degree, she chose to follow a different path: her love for art and painting. Within three months, she had sold over fifty paintings, and Lotta Sirén Art was born.
Sirén is a self-taught artist. “I see this as a strength,” she says. “I never learned the rules of painting, so I don’t follow them. I create art based on pure inspiration and good energy. I think that’s why my abstracts resonate so strongly with people. There’s freedom in not being formally trained.” This approach leads Sirén to create bold, textured pieces that mix freedom and structure.
Sirén has several collections to explore, many offering large scale statement pieces: Flow & Freedom is full of dance-like spontaneity; Bold & Structured plays with sharp lines and confident composition. “I don’t paint literal images, I paint beauty and confidence,” says Sirén.
Her dearest collection is A Piece of My Space. “I lay high-quality canvas on my studio floor and paint other paintings on top of it. All acrylic drips and splashes in this series are leftovers from other paintings – recycling at its finest!” she says. Materials that would usually go to waste are turned into the most profound works of art. “I’ve already sold 15 pieces from this collection. Each has its own story, mirroring the phase and colour palette I had at that time in my atelier.”
At the moment, Sirén mainly sells her pieces through her website and Instagram. However, she is also involved in a few gallery shows every year. “This June, I exhibited in Spain, sharing a space with Picasso and Dali,” she says. “I’ll also have a booth at Habitare Design Fair in Helsinki in September. It’s lovely to meet my collectors face-to-face in an environment like that.”
Sirén has sold over 500 pieces of art worldwide with collectors based in places as varied as Honolulu, Paris, Singapore, and Tokyo. “That’s the beauty of having an online presence: I can reach people I would not be able to through galleries in Finland alone.” She also holds open studio weekends in her summer gallery near Siuntio, Finland. “I have my atelier, my gallery and my father’s stunning log house full of artwork to explore and enjoy.”
In the future, Sirén wants to keep pushing boundaries. “I’ve launched a series of museum-quality giclée prints on canvas that look just like a real painting, and I’m also exploring abstract interior murals. Above all, I want to keep creating art that empowers people – pieces that make them feel strong and inspired every day in their own space.”
