Maria Pääkkönen
Born 1988, Riihimäki, Finland
Maria Pääkkönen (b. 1988) 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. She explores topics like impermanence, time, memory and landscape through her main material, paper, and its behavior and fragility. The memory-based drawings construct spaces and atmospheres that hover over the imaginary line between material and immaterial worlds.
Studies
2013 – 2016 Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts, Helsinki (MFA)
2010 – 2013 Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts, Helsinki (BFA)
2007 – 2010 Free Art School, Helsinki
Solo Exhibitions
2019 Distant And Vivid, Porvoon Taidehalli / Porvoo Kunsthalle
2018 Sea Dreams, Studio Kura, Itoshima, Japan
2018 Mountains Collapsing, B-galleria, Turku
2016 Entering Another Unknown Place, Ti-la2016, Jyväskylä
2016 Revisiting Unknown Places, Galleria Ratamo, Jyväskylä
2016 Revisiting Unknown Places, Galleria Huuto Jätkäsaari, Helsinki
Group Exhibitions
2017 Seeing Whales, curated by Chiara Ianeselli, Galleria Mazzoli, Modena, Italy,
2017 Van Eyck Open Studios, Jan Van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, Netherlands
2016 SYYT – group exhibition of the Union of Finnish Art Associations, Art Center Haihatus, Joutsa,
2016 Kuvitella / kokea / kerääntyä, Vanhan Raatihuoneen galleria,Turku
2015 Kuvan Kevät – Degree show of the Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts, Helsinki
2014 Sitting Quietly, Doing Nothing, Kuva/Tila (Exhibition Laboratory), Helsinki
2013 Drawing in the Flesh, Vantaa Art Museum
2013 Rum, Galleri Kakelhallen, Mariehamn
2013 Bachelors of the Universe, Galleria FAFA, Helsinki
2012 Size Matters, Kaiku gallery, Helsinki
2012 Kaamos, Arktikum, Rovaniemi
2012 Kaamos, Kaiku gallery, Helsinki
2008 Chinese Whispers, Pori Art Museum
Performances
2019 You Are I Am You, drawing performance with Ingeborg Blom Andersskog, Superb! -contemporary art festival, B-galleria, Turku
2017 Just Drawing This Line, series of drawing performances, Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht
2014 Dancing On Ice, painting performance with Eetu Huhtala, Angakoq performance event and exhibition, SIC gallery, Helsinki
Residencies
2019 Residency in Utö
2018 Mustarinda, Hyrynsalmi
2018 Studio Kura, Itoshima, Japan
2016-17 Jan Van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, Netherlands
2016, 2015, 2014 Residency in Utö, Kuvan residenssi ry
2014 Residency in Berlin, Academy of Fine Arts
Workshops
2016 Nordic Studio: “Clearcut” -post-mfa workshop, Rejmyre Art Lab, Kalbo, Sweden
Grants
2019 Finnish Art Society, Young artist grant
2019 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, project grant
2019 The Paulo Foundation
2018 Finnish Cultural Foundation, 1-year working grant
2018 The Paulo Foundation
2017 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, working grant
2016-17 Van Eyck Academie, residency grant
2016 Saastamoinen Foundation Finland, recidency grant
2016 Nordic Culture Point, mobility funding
2016 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, project grant
2015 Academy of Fine Arts, travel grant
Memberships
The Finnish Painters’ Union, candidate member
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
https://www.ostnyland.fi/artikel/rumsliga-dikter-i-bildformat-fyller-konsthallen/
http://www.flashartonline.it/2018/02/seeing-whales-mazzoli-modena/
http://www.lost-painters.nl/van-eyck-open-studios-4/
http://www.metropolism.com/nl/reviews/30883_open_studios_van_eyck_2017
https://www.apollo-magazine.com/helsinkis-artists-world-class-recognition-start-home/
http://www.thelearnedpig.org/maria-paakkonen-revisiting-unknown-places/3306
