Stiina Saaristo’s exhibition Always Happy explores the difficult emotions of human life at Serlachius in Finland

Stiina Saaristo (born 1976) is considered one of the most original artists of her generation in Finland. Her exhibition Always Happy features more than forty works dating from 1995 to 2025. The oldest work in the exhibition is from Saaristo’s high school days, while the most recent works were completed this year.

Laura Kuurne, curator of the exhibition and Serlachius’ Head of Collections and Exhibitions, has selected works that form a diverse ensemble of Saaristo’s artistic production. Many of the exhibition’s works date back to turning points in the artist’s career, when she discovered a new form of expression, technique or material.

Revenge, jealousy and bullying

Since her student days, Stiina Saaristo has been a model in her own works, which perceptively depict difficult and repressed human emotions. Characters and clothing change in her works, which make visible use of power, jealousy, greed and aggression.Yet humour can also invariably be found within them.

Saaristo’s Ein kleines Monster (2009) drawings encapsulate a powerful atmosphere of revenge. A middle-aged woman, dressed like a little girl, is depicted as the perpetrator of violence. The topic raises questions about cultural norms: in society, a woman’s role is to protect and create life and order, not to break it. A woman with a bloody knife in her hand breaks the role of the good girl and takes agency into her hands.

Revenge also plays the leading role in the pencil work Last Man Standing (2007–2008), considered to be one of the main works of Saaristo’s career. A powerful interpretation of the Finnish national epic Kalevala depicts the moment when Louhi, the Mistress of Pohjala, avenges the wrongs she has suffered by sending diseases and plagues to Kalevala.

Techniques change, recognisable style remains

Stiina Saaristo has changed technique several times during her career. Yet she has always maintained her original, recognisable style. Always Happy presents the artist’s charcoal, pencil and coloured pencil drawings, oil paintings, graphics and ceramic sculptures. Saaristo first tried making ceramics as a hobby a few years ago and soon devoted herself passionately to the world of three-dimensional sculptures.

The works are brimming with a wealth of detail. A single drawing or sculpture can take several months to complete. Despite this, Saaristo does not sketch even her largest works. She starts drawing from some detail and continues until the paper is full. She also follows the same intuitive working method in her sculptures.

Difficult relationships and the emotions they evoke have fascinated Saaristo since the early stages of her career. The artist’s gaze has gradually turned from examining her own inner world towards a more community-oriented perspective. The latest sculpture ensemble, Those Assholes (2025), addresses bullying between girls, but the work can also be interpreted as a broader depiction of the mechanisms of revenge.

Stiina Saaristo’s exhibition Always Happy will be on display at Serlachius Manor from 22 November 2025 to 12 April 2026.

Artist Stiina Saaristo

Stiina Saaristo is one of the most original artists of her generation. She graduated from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2005, and lives and works in Helsinki.

Saaristo has participated extensively in exhibitions in Finland and abroad, including MoMA PS1 in New York, the Cairo Biennale (2008) and the Finnish National Gallery Ateneum’s major exhibition on the Kalevala (2009). Her most notable solo exhibitions include Ein kleines Monsterat the Amos Anderson Art Museum in Helsinki (2010) and a solo exhibition at the Uppsala Art Museum (2016).

Saaristo’s works can be found in numerous collections in Finland and abroad. In 2015, Stiina Saaristo received the Finnish Art Society’s William Thuring Prize. The Kalevala Society awarded Saaristo the Akseli Gallen-Kallela Recognition Prize in 2024.

Press releases and photographs: https://serlachius.fi/en/for-the-media/

Further information and image requests: Susanna Yläjärvi, Information Officer, Serlachius, tel. +358 (0)50 560 0156, susanna.ylajarvi@serlachius.fi

Serlachius is open:

in the winter season, 1 September–31 May, from Tuesday to Sunday, 11 am–6 pm

in the summer season, 1 June–31 August, every day 10 am–6 pm

Visiting addresses:

Serlachius Manor, Joenniementie 47, Mänttä, Finland 

Serlachius Headquarters, R. Erik Serlachiuksen katu 2, Mänttä, Finland

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