The Vital Functions

The paintings in this series do not immediately capture your attention with brilliance or spectacle.
Instead, they ask us to pause — for example to sit down.
They require time and stillness. Perhaps the viewer does too.

The Vital Functions is a visual inquiry into the soul of Homo sapiens. — Portraits of You, Me, our ancestors and future generations.

What does it mean to be human? To live as distinct individuals, and yet belong to something larger?

Biologically, our species has not undergone any significant changes in the last 200,000 years.
Although the present-day technology has reached unimaginable heights, we, Homo sapiens, as a species, remain nearly the same.

This series of paintings offers a space for pause and contemplation — a moment to reflect on who we are.

Me and my Thoughts,
Oil on canvas,
73×40 cm
Maija G. Kaartama
2024
Sleeping
Oil on canvas,
63×75 cm
Maija G. Kaartama
2024
Conflict
Oil on canvas
triptych
Maija G. Kaartama
2024
Breathe
Oil on canvas
58x45cm
Maija G. Kaartama
2024
Intergenerational transmission of information
Oil on canvas
triptych
Maija G. Kaartama
2024

An Ode to Communication (a prior collection)

Maija G. Kaartama

Enlightened conversation

acrylic on canvas 
45x45cm
43x28cm
Maija G. Kaartama
2023

Maija G. Kaartama

Whisper

Acrylic on canvas
81x92cm
Maija G. Kaartama 
2023

Maija G. Kaartama

Words to the heart

Acrylic on canvas
104x100cm
Maija G. Kaartama 
2023

Maija G. Kaartama

Exchanging ideas

Acrylic on canvas
87×85 cm
20x20cm
36x90cm
Maija G. Kaartama 
2023

Portraits

Maija G. Kaartama

Axel 

Acrylic on canvas
40x40cm
Maija G. Kaartama 
2022

Maija G. Kaartama

Felines

Oil on Canvas
45x32cm
Maija G. Kaartama
2022

Miscellaneous paintings

Maija G. Kaartama

Memory

Acrylic on canvas
100x105cm
Maija G. Kaartama 
2022

Maija G. Kaartama

A mind in bloom

Oil on canvas
50×50 cm
Maija G. Kaartama 
2022