Emma Jääskeläinen

Night Studio, 2021
Hermelin marble, Noce travertine, Finnsheep wool
80 x 95 x 60 cm

EMMA JÄÄSKELÄINEN transforms classic stone sculpting materials and techniques into contemporary, contemplative, cheeky, soft and bulky (or “Gustonian”, as she herself describes) forms, that carry strong personal stories. From monumental scale to palm-size, and from hard materials such as granite, marble and travertine to metal casting and wool felting, Jääskeläinen looks for impulses that arise from within the material, as it slowly reacts to her touch. In a light-hearted way her works address fundamental, corporeal experiences such as motherhood, empathy and caring.

Emma Jääskeläinen (b. 1988) lives and works in Espoo. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in 2018, and in 2022 she received the nationally notable Young Artist of the Year award. Her many exhibitions include: GAA gallery, New York (2025); HAM Helsinki Art Museum (2024), Paris+par Art Basel, Paris (2023); Turku Art Museum (2023), Vleeshal, The Netherlands (2023); Tampere Art Museum (2022), PMS Gallery, Berlin (2021); and Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki (2019). Jääskeläinen’s work is found in numerous private and key public collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, HAM Helsinki Art Museum and Tampere Art Museum.

At Her Fingertips, 2023
detail
Norwegian Rose Marble , found stones, iron
size variable

Photo: Andrea Rosetti

installation view
EMERGING 2021

Repose, 2021
Norwegian Rose marble, travertine, Finnsheep wool
105 cm x 160 cm x 120 cm

Roll, 2021
Finnish sheep wool
20 x 20 x 13 cm

Night Studio, 2021
Hermelin marble, Noce travertine, Finnsheep wool
80 x 95 x 60 cm

At Her Fingertips, 2023
at Jardin de Tuileries, Paris
Norwegian Rose Marble, found stones, iron
size variable

Photo: Andrea Rosetti

At Her Fingertips, 2023
detail
Norwegian Rose Marble , found stones, iron
size variable

Photo: Andrea Rosetti

Long, long longing, Unfolding the Night, 2023
sheep wool
120 x 150 cm

Photo: Paavo Lehtonen

Night Watch, 2021
Finnsheep wool, marble, thumb of a mitten
156 x 28 x 11 cm

BioCVExhibitions

Exhibitions

Bio

Family Matters: A Conversation with Emma Jääskeläinen / Sculpture Magazine

Emma Jääskeläinen transforms classic stone sculpting materials and techniques into contemporary, contemplative, cheeky, soft, and bulky (or “Gustonian”, as she herself describes) forms, that carry strong personal stories. From monumental scale to palm-size, and from hard materials, such as granite, marble and travertine, to metal casting and wool felting, Jääskeläinen looks for impulses that arise from within the material, as it reacts to her touch. She works with stone in its own terms, focusing on its surface patterns, for example.

Slowless, meditativeness and repetition are important to Jääskeläinen. The ideas and themes originate from the everyday, such as her loved ones, pop culture or a chewing gum stuck to a sculpture, expanding towards art historical framework, and fundamental, corporeal experiences such as motherhood, empathy and caring. Who are statues built of, and how is the human body represented in them, she asks. Analogously to the working process, which leaves traces on the surface of the sculpture, Jääskeläinen contemplates on the traces that she has left behind, her personal history and our relationship with the nature.

CV

download as pdf

EMMA JÄÄSKELÄINEN

b.1988, Espoo

STUDIES

  • 2018
    • Master of Fine Arts, The University of the Arts Helsinki, Finnish Academy of Fine Arts
  • 2016
    • Bachelor of Fine Arts, The University of the Arts Helsinki, Finnish Academy of Fine Arts

PRIVATE EXHIBITIONS

  • 2026
    • (upcoming) Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
  • 2023
    • Long, Long, Longing, Unfolding the Night, Studio, Turku Art Museum, Turku
    • Slo Mo Mother: Vleeshal Center forContemporary Art, Middelburg, Netherlands
  • 2022
    • Young Artist of the Year, Tampere Art Museum, Tampere
    • Young Artist of the Year, Kuntsi Vaasa
    • Longing for Clouds (with Lasse Juuti), Forum Box, Helsinki
  • 2021
    • Running Up that Hill, PSM-galleria, Berlin, Germany
  • 2018
    • Tizzicato, Vanhan Raatihuoneen galleria, Turku
  • 2017
    • Sad Basket, HAM-galleria, HAM Helsinki Art Museum, Helsinki

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

  • 2025
    • Beyond Matter, Gaa gallery, New York, USA
    • Duo, Gallery Sculptor, Helsinki
    • Kerrostumia, Kultaranta, Naantali
  • 2024
    • Tyttö joka muuttui ruusupensaaksi, HAM Helsinki Art Museum, Helsinki
  • 2023-24
    • Dialogues, EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo
  • 2023
    • Le Cinquieme Saison, Paris+par Art Basel, Paris, France
  • 2021
    • K60 Wilhelm Hallen, Berlin, Germany
    • Come Back as a Flower ryhmänäyttely, HAM Helsinki Art Museum, Helsinki
    • EMERGING, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
  • 2019         
    • In Praise of Boredom, Rauma Triennale Balticum, Rauma

PRIZES

  • 2022
    • Vuoden nuori taiteilija
    • Ducat Prize

PUBLIC WORKS

2025          Kylväjä, 365 Leipää, Hirvensalon seurakuntakeskus, Turku
2023          Safe, Forma Viva, Portoroz, SVN
2020          Proper Omelette, Kiasma commission by Kordelin Foundation, Helsinki
2020          Put Put, Adriananpuistikko, Helsinki

WORKS IN COLLECTIONS
Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma
HAM Helsinki Art Museum
Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation
Saastamoinen Foundation
HUS
Taideyhdistys
Tampere Art Museum
Aine Art Museum
Piran Coastal galleries