cv + bio

Maria Pääkkönen is a visual artist based in Helsinki, Finland. She works with drawing, installation and durational drawing performance. The concentrated drawing process and the space in which it takes place play a significant part in her work. Her memory-based and often repetitive drawings construct spaces and atmospheres that hover over the imaginary line between material and immaterial worlds.

“The art of Maria Pääkkönen concerns itself with a reciprocal relationship between drawing and place. On the one hand is the drawing of the place – that which is observed, recorded, remembered, evoked. On the other is the place of the drawing – its physical presence within the confines of the gallery. Somewhere in between the two is the human body.” – Tom Jeffreys, writer and editor

Maria Pääkkönen
b. 1988 in Riihimäki, Finland

Studies

2013 – 2016 Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, FIN (MFA)

2010 – 2013 Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, FIN (BFA)

2007 – 2010 Free Art School, Helsinki, FIN

Solo Exhibitions 

2021 Epävarmuuden varjo valaisee mahdollisuudet / The Shadow of Uncertainty Sheds Light on Possibilities, HAA Galleria, Suomenlinna, Helsinki, FIN

2020 Sumun maa, Galleria Uusi Kipinä, Lahti, FIN

2019 Distant And Vivid, Porvoo Art Hall, FIN

2018 Sea Dreams, Studio Kura, Itoshima, JPN

2018 Mountains Collapsing, B-galleria, Turku, FIN

2016 Entering Another Unknown Place, Ti-la2016, Jyväskylä, FIN

2016 Revisiting Unknown Places, Galleria Ratamo, Jyväskylä, FIN

2016 Revisiting Unknown Places, Galleria Huuto Jätkäsaari, Helsinki, FIN

Group Exhibitions

2020 Kosminen Salonki – summer sales exhibition, Kosminen, Helsinki, FIN

2017 Seeing Whales, curated by Chiara Ianeselli, Galleria Mazzoli, Modena, ITA

2017 Van Eyck Open Studios, Jan Van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, NLD

2016 SYYT, Union of Finnish Art Associations, Art Center Haihatus, Joutsa, FIN

2016 Kuvitella / kokea / kerääntyä, Vanhan Raatihuoneen galleria, Turku, FIN

2015 Kuvan Kevät – MFA degree show of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, FIN

2014 Sitting Quietly, Doing Nothing, Kuva/Tila (Exhibition Laboratory), Helsinki, FIN

2013 Drawing in the Flesh, Vantaa Art Museum, FIN

2013 Rum, Galleri Kakelhallen, Mariehamn, FIN

2013 Bachelors of the Universe, Galleria FAFA, Helsinki, FIN

2012 Size Matters, Kaiku gallery, Helsinki, FIN

2012 Kaamos, Arktikum, Rovaniemi, FIN

2012 Kaamos, Kaiku gallery, Helsinki, FIN

2008 Chinese Whispers, Pori Art Museum, FIN

Performances

2019 You Are I Am You, w/ Ingeborg Andersskog, Superb! -festival, Turku, FIN

2017 Just Drawing This Line, Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, NLD

2014 Dancing On Ice, w/ Eetu Huhtala, Angakoq performance event, SIC, Helsinki, FIN

Residencies

2019 Residency in Utö, Kuvan residenssi ry, FIN

2018 Mustarinda, Hyrynsalmi, FIN

2018 Studio Kura, Itoshima, JPN

2016-17 Jan Van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, NLD

2016, 2015, 2014 Residency in Utö, Kuvan residenssi ry, FIN

2014 Finnish Academy of Fine Arts residency in Berlin, DEU

Workshops

2016 Nordic Studio: Clearcut, Rejmyre Art Lab, Kalbo, SWE

Grants

2022 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, 1-year working grant

2021 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, project grant

2020 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, corona grant

2020 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, corona grant

2020 The Paulo Foundation, working grant

2019 Finnish Cultural Foundation, mobility grant

2019 Finnish Art Society, Young artist grant

2019 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, project grant

2019 The Paulo Foundation, working grant

2018 Finnish Cultural Foundation, 1-year working grant

2018 The Paulo Foundation, working grant

2017 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, working grant

2016-17 Van Eyck Academie, residency grant

2016 Saastamoinen Foundation Finland, residency stipend

2016 Nordic Culture Point, mobility grant

2016 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, project grant

Memberships

The Finnish Painters’ Union, candidate member

MUU Artists’ Association

Huuto/Mehiläispesä ry

Rajataide ry

Publications

2017 Exhibition catalogue: Seeing Whales, Galleria Mazzoli Editore, Modena

2015 Drawings and column in ÄÄRI magazine, No#1

Articles