Galerie Anhava’s closing exhibition of the autumn season showcases four artists: Saija Kivikangas, Eeva Lietonen, JaakkoPietiläinen and Suvi Sysi. Each artist works independently, yet together the works resonate with each other through hunches, porous thresholds, and flowing states of liminality. With material-based practices, unspoken feelings are invited and made replete. Time and materials circulate, compressing layer upon layer during the darkest hour of the year, suggesting new beginnings.
SAIJA KIVIKANGAS has recently been attracted to our ancient relationship with stone, to magical ritualism and spiritual traditions. She has collected stones and carried them to her studio, carving and painting abstract lines on their surface using pigments she has ground herself from stone. The works provide pathways for exploring our connections to shared history on both material and symbolic levels – humans have relied on rocks throughout the ages, trusting their power to connect us to the spirit world.
Saija Kivikangas (b. 1984) lives and works in Lahti. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Finland in 2021 and has also studied at the Lahti Art Institute and the Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten in the Netherlands. Her work has been shown at Galleria Live (2020), Glasshouse Helsinki (2021), Galleria Huuto (2016) and Mänttä Art Festival (2014), among others. In 2022, she received the Finnish Art Society’s William Thuring Prize. Her work is held in the collections of the Saastamoinen Foundation, HAM Helsinki Art Museum, Malva museum of visual arts, HUS Helsinki University Hospital, and the City of Lahti, among others.
EEVA LIETONEN works with self-made oil paint, fresco techniques, and sculpted metal. Using an earthy palette, she creates works that evoke reassuring suggestions, protecting figures, shared yet hidden qualities. Lietonen’s art stems from a need and desire to investigate the experience of being in the world, of touching by hand, of the message and circulation of matter – reoccurring ephemeralities. Her starting points are memories, layers of thought, and the spaces between them that link the past to the present. Her works embody both sensitivity and ferocity, growth and decay, empathy and uncertainty.
Eeva Lietonen (b. 1987) lives and works in Helsinki. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki in 2024. Her work has been shown in Finland and internationally, including at Paimio Sanatorium, Paimio (2024); Pesula Gallery, Sipoo (2024); XVIII International Vilnus Painting Triennial, Vilnius (2024); PAJA Gallery, Helsinki (2022); Snow Gallery, Berlin (2022); and Kosminen Gallery, Helsinki (2021). In addition to private collections, her work features in the collections of the HAM Helsinki Art Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma.
The work of JAAKKO PIETILÄINEN often features a person either actively attempting to solve a situation or a task, or passively yielding to prevailing circumstances. Another key element in his art is (architectural) space. The works in this exhibition continue to explore these themes, presenting situations and spaces as plaster casts of moments arrested in time. Drawing on the intersection of the physical world and the (un)realities of computer graphics, his works capture instances where technological distortions reveal something fundamentally real.
Jaakko Pietiläinen (b. 1986) has recently shown his work at Tallinn Art Hall (2024); Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma (2024); Taattisten tila, Merimasku (2023); Sinne, Helsinki (2023); and EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art (2022). His work has also been featured at the Doclisboa (2023) and Nordische Filmtage (2021) festivals. Pietiläinen graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki in 2022. He also holds a BA in graphic and stage design from Aalto University. His work is held in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma and the Saastamoinen Foundation.Pietiläinen works in moving image, sculpture, performance, and set design.
SUVI SYSI plays with light in her art, using intensely glowing colours like blue, yellow and orange to convey a sense of freedom and joy. A master colourist, she finds particular versatility in blue, which she uses prominently in her graphic prints. In recent years, the wispy Japanese paper in her works has been complemented by more three-dimensional materials, such as ceramic, plaster, and wood. The monotypes and collages in this exhibition create immersive worlds that invite viewers to dive in, to breathe. For Sysi, a sheet of paper is a spatial element on which her works settle in the form of suggestions into which viewers can enfold themselves.
Suvi Sysi (b. 1990) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki in 2020. Her most recent solo and group exhibitions include Galleria Sculptor, Helsinki (2023); Kunsthalle Turku (2022); Project Room, Helsinki (2020); Jyväskylä Art Museum (2024); EMMA Espoo Modern Art (2021); and Forum Box, Helsinki (2021). Her work is held in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the Saastamoinen Foundation, HAM Helsinki Art Museum, State Art Commission, HUS Helsinki University Hospital, and the Finnish Art Society, among others. Suvi Sysi was named Young Artist of the Year in 2024, and her award exhibition at Tampere Art Museum remains open until 12 January 2025.
