Kaarina Kaikkonen

Kaarina Kaikkonen is born in Iisalmi, Finland in 1952. She lives and works in Helsinki.

Kaarina Kaikkonen is known for shaping urban landscapes and emphasizing community through her installations. In her works, one can find references to current themes of humanity’s place in their own time, and of basic needs that always exist regardless of environment or culture. Old clothes contain the former user’s presence, which wraps around Kaikkonen’s story and places the viewer before something new and unknown but at the same time exceedingly familiar and intimate.

The impressive installations made out of mens’ jackets and shirts are well known both in Finland and globally such as in the US, Cuba, Canada, Japan, and Great Britain. Her first installation was on display in Helsinki in 1988. In Finland, one of her most famous works is the ‘Way’ -installation, which she built on the steps of Helsinki Cathedral in 2000. Her pieces can be found in several collections such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki City Art Museum, and Espoo Museum of Modern Art of EMMA.

Kaikkonen studied at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts School and was awarded the National Visual Arts Prize in 1989, the Finland Prize of Art in 2001, and in 2013 the Order of the Lion of Finland awarded her Knight, First Class. Kaikkonen has also received international awards such as Public Prize in Den Haag Sculptuur in the Netherlands in 2004 and Honorable Mention at the Cairo 11th Biennale in Egypt in 2009.

Exhibitions

At M77 Gallery:

Curated by: Francesca Alfano Miglietti

Date: 11/10/2022

- 22/12/2022

Artworks

Not Far From Here

Year: 2022
Technique: mixed media, shirts
Dimensions: 200 × 140 × 15 cm

Sweet Dream

Year: 2022
Technique: men’s shirts, glass
Dimensions: 100 × 100 × 20 cm

We Have Met Before

Year: 2022
Technique: men’s jacket, ceramic
Dimensions: 120 × 30 × 20 cm

Yes Me Too

Year: 2022
Technique: men’s jacket, shirts
Dimensions: 80 × 40 × 10 cm

Too Late

Year: 2022
Technique: men’s shirts, broken bottle
Dimensions: 120 × 30 × 25 cm

Illan Sinissipi / Evening Butterfly

Year: 2014
Technique: men's jacket, hook
Dimensions: 84 x 120 x 24 cm

Vain Tuulen Henkäys / Only a Breath of Wind

Year: 2010
Technique: mixed meda, clothes
Dimensions: 40 x 340 x 120 cm

Publications

News