Starry Night series
Märkälä's characteristic pink and green rhododendrons have recently started to be accompanied by lights at the edges of darknesses. While painting, Märkälä has thought about the night that she spent sleeping under the stars in a desert and how sailors used to navigate with the help of the stars.
She has thought about the starry sky and how light pollution is changing the world, causing insect populations to decline, disrupting the natural rhythm of both people and animals and decreasing the production of 'the darkness hormone,' melatonin. Light pollution also makes space and the stars almost impossible to observe.Märkälä paints in layers and wants to paint light on top as a reminder of the good aspects and beauty of life.