Lokal Creators / Didi NG Wing Yin

Didi NG Wing Yin is an awarded wood artist based in Helsinki, originally from Hong Kong. He centres on woodworking in unique sculptural furniture and crafts characterised by his distinctive carving techniques. The creative process emphasizes the true expression of the materiality in wood which seeks the balance between the essence of wood, the intuitive nature of craftsmanship, and conceptual exploration. We visited Didi at Minestrone Workshop as he was preparing his last pieces for his exhibition Not Just Something (28.2.–29.3.2025).

Lokal Creators / Didi NG Wing Yin

Didi NG Wing Yin is an awarded wood artist based in Helsinki, originally from Hong Kong. He centres on woodworking in unique sculptural furniture and crafts characterised by his distinctive carving techniques. The creative process emphasizes the true expression of the materiality in wood which seeks the balance between the essence of wood, the intuitive nature of craftsmanship, and conceptual exploration. We visited Didi at Minestrone Workshop as he was preparing his last pieces for his exhibition Not Just Something (28.2.–29.3.2025).

“Wood can be used in different ways; I can create furniture from it, I can make an art piece from it, I can make firewood from it. I can do handicrafts – or just burn it, or use in an industrial way. It’s so versatile that it generates a lot of creative thoughts for me. A lof of the time I would have a lot of left-over wood for doing experiments. This is something I never experienced before. It gives more possibilities for me to learn, to learn from a piece of wood.”

Ng’s work is grounded in experimenting with innovative surface treatments and wood carving techniques. Instead of exerting strict control over the material to achieve a predetermined form and shape, he prefers to engage with the inherent qualities of wood, allowing its natural properties to guide the creative process and honouring the material’s intrinsic characteristics. His goal is to explore the genuine expression of wood, which he encapsulates in one word: Naturalness.

NG received an MA from Aalto University, Finland. His work has garnered him recognition worldwide; He was nominated finalist at the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2025 (Spain) and in 2024 he won the Rising Star of the Year Award at the Stockholm Furniture Fair (Sweden) the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Working Grant Award (Finland), and was the winner of Dezeen’s Emerging Designer of the Year Award (UK). He presented his first solo show in Helsinki in 2024, and has participated in group exhibitions and art fairs in Italy, France, Belgium, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Yin has been selected for a residency at the Röhsska Museum, Gothenburg, in Spring 2025.

Shop: Didi NG Wing Yin’s Works

Explore: Lokal Creators

Lokal Creators / Armi Teva

Armi Teva is a visual artist and designer living in Helsinki. Teva operates in various fields, including sculpture, illustration and public art pieces. The works are united by a playful style, bold use of colours and a passion for drawing. Ceramics is one material close to Teva. She held an exhibition of ceramic reliefs on Lokal’s White Wall at the end of 2024, and we visited her studio as she was wrapping up the year.

Lokal Creators / Réka Király

Réka Király is a visual storyteller. Born in Budapest, Hungary, and she currently lives and works in Helsinki, Finland. Kiraly’s works capture the delicate individualism and uniqueness of people in the form of plants. These portraits are dialogues showing the emerging repetitive elements in nature. We visited her home studio in connection to her Lokal White Wall exhibition Seedling. 

Lokal Creators / Saija Starr

Saija Starr is a painter living in Helsinki. Recent works depict nature and human nature, memories and memories of places that have left a strong trace in memory. Starr’s painting style is expressive, and colours play a most important role.We visited her studio just as the last coat of paint was drying on her pieces to be included in her Lokal White Wall exhibition, Tranquility.

Lokal Creators / Akiko Mori

Akiko Mori was born in Japan and studied sculpture at Art University in Tokyo. In 2022 she opened her new studio in Helsinki, which we visited to mark her Lokal White Wall exhibition, Geometric Spaces. She is interested in how physical properties, such as clay density and water content, affect the fluidity of the clay.