Category / Creators

Minna Arponen is a jewellery designer and maker from Helsinki. Recently, she’s been fascinated by the tiny glass beads that she used to play with in her childhood. We visited her studio where most of her pieces take form, if not in her lap on tram rides through the city.

Pan Jianfeng is a conceptual artist working predominately with paper and ink. His background and techniques are rooted in tradition, but his works are strong and contemporary. We visited his home studio one early spring afternoon to learn more about his works in our Year of the Rabbit exhibition.

Aimo Katajamäki is an artist, illustrator, and graphic designer. His superhero wood sculptures depict human nature in a subtle and delicate way. We visited his studio just a few blocks from Lokal as he was carving his new pieces for the Year of the Rabbit exhibition.

Milla Vaahtera is a designer and artist best known for her unique pieces combining bold glass parts with delicate brass.On a winter’s day earlier this year we visited her studio in an old elementary school building in Helsinki, where she assembles her pieces.

Katy Hertell is a sculptor living in Helsinki. She draws inspiration from Eastern and Greek mythology, from the animal world, from children and from Nature, in creating hand-built sculptures. These photos accompanied by a short interview are from a recent visit to her at her studio at the Cable Factory in Helsinki.

Rasmus Palmgren is a designer who seeks new perspectives for everyday objects, always on the lookout for clever, innovative and simple solutions and a fine balance between material, aesthetics, usability and production. Over the years we have had the joy to exhibit his unique, sculptural furniture pieces.

Matti Pikkujämsä is an esteemed freelance illustrator and artist since, working in the interface of art and illustration. We visited his make-shift studio in his Helsinki apartment just before we started setting up his solo exhibition Variations.

Outi Martikainen is a classically trained textile artist. Her works are influenced by craftworks and the practice of observation, which is so central to art. Martikainen often finds her materials in everyday life and gives them a new purpose.

Sasha Huber is a visual artist of Swiss-Haitian heritage. Huber’s work is primarily concerned with history’s influence on the present and focuses mainly on the ramifications of colonialism. We visited her studio as she was working on her new pieces for our Jewel exhibition, as well as her Tailoring Freedom series.

Linda Linko is a Helsinki-based visual artist, who creates images that are linked to momentary experience. We visited her studio just as she had emptied it out to fill the Lokal Gallery space for her solo exhibition Blush.

Päivi Keski-Pomppu is a fine jewellery designer based in Helsinki, Finland. We visited her studio, where she works on both her jewellery as well as her sculptural pieces.