Introspectio
27.3.–29.3.2026
EXHIBITION
Shopping center Hertsi will be filled with art when Art for All brings art of young artists to Herttoniemi. The artworks discuss questions of self-reflection and the interior world of the mind.
INTROSPECTIO
The exhibition explores the theme of introspection – a process of turning inwards and reflecting on personal experiences. Through their works, artists explore questions of identity, nostalgia, and the traces that we leave behind. The artworks invite audiences to move through various emotional landscapes, presented through paintings, sculptures, performances and multimedia installations.
The exhibition opening will be celebrated on Friday March 27th 6pm onwards in shopping center Hertsi with some music and performances.
18:00 Doors open to audiences
18:30 Opening words
18:45 Performance by Sara-Maria Pirhonen
19:00 DJ controfaces
The exhibition is open on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th of March from 1pm to 6pm.
The event is supported by City of Helsinki and shopping center Hertsi.
FIND US IN HERTSI
MEET THE ARTISTS
Edvin Bäckman
Minnet av ett hav
2026, oil on canvas
2026, oil on canvas
Minnet av ett hav touches on feelings that are hard to put into words. The artwork is a part of a bigger series of Edvin’s paintings that represents the artist's way of looking back at painful experiences, and exploring ways in which the feelings about them have changed, disappeared and become something better. The artist explores the state in-between the feelings of old pain and darkness and beautiful and lighter things that have come in their place.
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Edvin Bäckman is a 19 years old artist studying architecture at Aalto university. Edvin primarily works with oil paintings on canvas, watercolour, and ceramics.
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Edvin Bäckman is a 19 years old artist studying architecture at Aalto university. Edvin primarily works with oil paintings on canvas, watercolour, and ceramics.
Sofia Kanen
Viaton - Innocent/Flawless (2026), multimaterial sculpture: Lace curtain, glue, beads, wire and chain.
(2026), multimaterial sculpture: Lace curtain, glue, beads, wire and chain.
"Viaton" explores themes of genuinity, innocence and imperfection. The sculpture was an experimental art project with an idea to capture the human body in an unlikely way. The mould for the sculpture was made with the artist's own body, and all the material used in the installation were recycled. The piece was inspired by the Arte Povera exhibition in Emma Museum 2025-2026.
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Sofia Kanen is an architecture student from Espoo. Her main artistic fields include painting, jewellery making, circus and theatre. She has been working with different materials such as yarn, fabric and beads from a young age. Sofia's art is often influenced by womanhood and the surrounding nature.
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Sofia Kanen is an architecture student from Espoo. Her main artistic fields include painting, jewellery making, circus and theatre. She has been working with different materials such as yarn, fabric and beads from a young age. Sofia's art is often influenced by womanhood and the surrounding nature.
Teittinen Lizard
Lummelampi (Lilypond)
2026, concrete, glass, ceramics, plaster, video projection
2026, concrete, glass, ceramics, plaster, video projection
Lummelampi (Lilypond) evokes the feeling of diving into a pond and floating in the water, gently being caressed by water lilies and other aquatic plants. The installation celebrates natural bodies of water and the simple joy of being and swimming in them.
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Teittinen Lizard is a Helsinki-based visual artist working primarily through sculpture. Their sculptures most often depict human figures, the largest of which are slightly smaller than life-sized, and the smallest about the size of a matchbox. The premise of their works typically begins with some particular emotion or experience, after which they select materials to support and express the emotion. Many of their pieces are created through handbuilding clay techniques and various casting methods. However, a significant part of their artistic practice is also based on playfully experimenting with and exploring unusual materials, for example saltdough.
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Teittinen Lizard is a Helsinki-based visual artist working primarily through sculpture. Their sculptures most often depict human figures, the largest of which are slightly smaller than life-sized, and the smallest about the size of a matchbox. The premise of their works typically begins with some particular emotion or experience, after which they select materials to support and express the emotion. Many of their pieces are created through handbuilding clay techniques and various casting methods. However, a significant part of their artistic practice is also based on playfully experimenting with and exploring unusual materials, for example saltdough.
Sielu tuntuu likaselta (My soul feels dirty) explores the experience of turning inward and drifting through memory, the feeling of becoming absorbed in one's own mind while waiting.
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Sonja Nars is a 20 years old artist based in Helsinki, Finland, currently studying design at Aalto University.
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Sonja Nars is a 20 years old artist based in Helsinki, Finland, currently studying design at Aalto University.
Uliana Novak
Self-Portrait with Van Gogh
2024, Oil on canvas. 80x100cm
2024, Oil on canvas. 80x100cm
Uliana Novak is a Finnish self-taught artist of Russian origin with solid background in Sociology and research. In 2020, she began painting for the very first time. What started as a once-a-week hobby turned into a new way to share her thoughts about herself and the world. Since 2022, she has created several series of painting, got several publications, awards, and participated in both online and offline group exhibitions. She was selected as Winner #1 of the "Top 100 Emerging Artists-2025" competition hosted by Arts to Hearts Project. Her first solo exhibition was in Helsinki, in September-October 2025.
Laura Rajalin
Kukemuna
2025, plywood, burning pen and pencil
2025, plywood, burning pen and pencil
Kukemuna (Estonian for “rooster’s egg”) reflects the growing awareness of societal expectations surrounding parenthood. What would it feel like to become a father instead of a mother?
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Laura Rajalin is a visual artist and designer based in Helsinki. Laura explores the surrounding world through everyday observations and seeks connection through humor. Rajalin’s process is material driven, with techniques, textures, and physical interaction guiding her work as I experiment with materials, methods, and ideas.
Alarik Rantala
What Remains
(2025), Ceramics, soil, citrus tree
(2025), Ceramics, soil, citrus tree
What Remains studies humans’ desire to cling to the mortal realm, even in death. We perform funeral rites that undermine the circle of life, as they prolong the decay of the human body. We leave behind tombstones and memories. For only when one is forgotten are they truly dead.
“While I will rot and be devoured by maggots, this effigy of my body will outlive even future generations as a piece of fired clay. My corpse, however, will ultimately nurture new life, as represented by the citrus tree.”
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Alarik Rantala (b. 1999) is a Finnish artist and designer based in Espoo. He has worked with many materials, from glass to mycelium, but considers ceramics and fibre arts his preferred media. His work often explores themes of death, sexuality, and spirituality, inviting the viewer to explore the artist’s inner psyche and experience catharsis. Currently, he is studying at Aalto University and working towards two master's degrees: MA in Contemporary Design and MSc in Marketing.
“While I will rot and be devoured by maggots, this effigy of my body will outlive even future generations as a piece of fired clay. My corpse, however, will ultimately nurture new life, as represented by the citrus tree.”
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Alarik Rantala (b. 1999) is a Finnish artist and designer based in Espoo. He has worked with many materials, from glass to mycelium, but considers ceramics and fibre arts his preferred media. His work often explores themes of death, sexuality, and spirituality, inviting the viewer to explore the artist’s inner psyche and experience catharsis. Currently, he is studying at Aalto University and working towards two master's degrees: MA in Contemporary Design and MSc in Marketing.
Sinitse
White coal
2026. Hot membranes. drop of chaos, protection plastic, pieces...pieces, pieces, pieces! UV color, led lamps
2026. Hot membranes. drop of chaos, protection plastic, pieces...pieces, pieces, pieces! UV color, led lamps
I believe that in the future, everything will look like this: information will reach its smallest dimensions, and the universe will be nothing more than an object the size of a wall. I tried to make it as light and changeable as I wanted it to be. Weightless organic light installations. Outdoor and indoor. All materials from Finland.
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The girl is an artist and photographer: "I used to take more photos. Then I realized I'd become less about the photo and more about the subject. I explore what's attractive to the eye and fascinating to the brain. I think about themes of lightness or protecting the vulnerable. Love first, wisdom next. Like perfume, but for the retina. I was born in 1988, and since then I've been dying every night".
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The girl is an artist and photographer: "I used to take more photos. Then I realized I'd become less about the photo and more about the subject. I explore what's attractive to the eye and fascinating to the brain. I think about themes of lightness or protecting the vulnerable. Love first, wisdom next. Like perfume, but for the retina. I was born in 1988, and since then I've been dying every night".
Simo Sahlman
LP
2026, linocut
Mikropizza
2025, linocut
Puutarhat
2025, linocut
LsfvsDog
2024, mixed materials
Nirvana
2024, linocut.
Omakuva
2025, photograph, rug.
2026, linocut
Mikropizza
2025, linocut
Puutarhat
2025, linocut
LsfvsDog
2024, mixed materials
Nirvana
2024, linocut.
Omakuva
2025, photograph, rug.
Simo Sahlman’s linocuts and mixed material artworks study the idea of nostalgia as a seemingly harmless entity. A ghost that speaks from the past. A hauntological voice that has a malevolent side to it as it seems to control the present.
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Simo Sahlman (b. 1979) is an artist living in Helsinki. He is studying art education in Aalto university and has participated in several group exhibitions, including Pentouse gallery, Om’pu gallery and Toinen silmä gallery. His most recent solo exhibition was in Kammio gallery 2025. Sahlman works around themes of nostalgia and life in the city. He uses painting, printmaking, soft materials and drawing as mediums.
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Simo Sahlman (b. 1979) is an artist living in Helsinki. He is studying art education in Aalto university and has participated in several group exhibitions, including Pentouse gallery, Om’pu gallery and Toinen silmä gallery. His most recent solo exhibition was in Kammio gallery 2025. Sahlman works around themes of nostalgia and life in the city. He uses painting, printmaking, soft materials and drawing as mediums.
PERFORMANCES
Sara-Maria Pirhonen
Honey i’m home
2026, durational performance
The performance is a live installation in which the audience may stay briefly or remain for a longer period. Viewers are free to come and go. They can observe how the relationship between the performer and the space shifts from intimate to public, from home to stage.
At the core of the piece is a hyper/alter ego called Honey. An exaggerated and empowered self through which the body claims space and visibility. Within the world of drag and cabaret, Honey explores identity, privacy, freedom and intimacy. When does a home become a stage, and when does a body become a demonstration?
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The work is based on the artistic part of Pirhonen’s thesis that was performed at the Helsinki Theatre Academy in 2022.
Original working group:
Facilitator/performer: Sara-Maria Pirhonen
Concept/script: Minne Mäki & Sara-Maria Pirhonen
Dramaturgy/sound design: Minne Mäki
Costume design, scenography and ceramics: Natalie Seifert Eliassen
Lighting design: Elli Kujansuu
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Sara-Maria Pirhonen is an actor and dancer who graduated from the Helsinki Theatre Academy in 2024. They work broadly across the field of performing arts and enjoy interdisciplinarity in its various forms. In their artistic work, Pirhonen is intrigued by the embodied and grotesque stage, exploring themes such as sensuality, gender and emancipation. They work in the intersections of drama, film, dance-, and contemporary theatre. Pirhonen is interested in creating art that reaches into the gaps and cracks rather than projecting a seamless surface.
At the core of the piece is a hyper/alter ego called Honey. An exaggerated and empowered self through which the body claims space and visibility. Within the world of drag and cabaret, Honey explores identity, privacy, freedom and intimacy. When does a home become a stage, and when does a body become a demonstration?
/
The work is based on the artistic part of Pirhonen’s thesis that was performed at the Helsinki Theatre Academy in 2022.
Original working group:
Facilitator/performer: Sara-Maria Pirhonen
Concept/script: Minne Mäki & Sara-Maria Pirhonen
Dramaturgy/sound design: Minne Mäki
Costume design, scenography and ceramics: Natalie Seifert Eliassen
Lighting design: Elli Kujansuu
/
Sara-Maria Pirhonen is an actor and dancer who graduated from the Helsinki Theatre Academy in 2024. They work broadly across the field of performing arts and enjoy interdisciplinarity in its various forms. In their artistic work, Pirhonen is intrigued by the embodied and grotesque stage, exploring themes such as sensuality, gender and emancipation. They work in the intersections of drama, film, dance-, and contemporary theatre. Pirhonen is interested in creating art that reaches into the gaps and cracks rather than projecting a seamless surface.
controfaces
Always on a quest for the next sound to obsess over, she jumps from genre to genre the way her mind leaps from serenity to excitement. Her love for music recommendations and community efforts has brought her here. What’s next is unknown... let her first finish reading yet another academic paper on reverbs.
ARRIVAL AT THE VENUE
The exhibition venue is accessible. The exhibition takes place in a shopping center that has been constructed according to the latest accessibility standards. If needed, the staff will provide assistance.
SAFER SPACE
The festival aims to create an inclusive and safe event for all visitors and staff. We follow safer space guidelines that you can find throught the link below. We expect all visitors to follow these guidelines. The festival area is a harrasment free zone and all people behaving inappropriately will be removed from the venue. We welcome all visitors to attend with a safe mind and encourage everyone to contact the festival team incase you find any deficiencies or ideas for improval: artforallry@gmail.com
AFA’s Safer Space Guidelines
ART FOR ALL RY