OUR MEMBERS
Search alphabetically by surname or browse and get to know our talented community of members
LANA SAID
ACTRESS, SINGER, PAINTER
My name is Lana Said, and I am a passionate and experienced actress and singer originally from Syria and Egypt. With fifteen years of experience in movies, television series, singing, and working on different cultural projects, I have honed my skills and developed a strong understanding of the industry.
"Now based in Finland, I am excited to explore new opportunities in the Arts, TV, and Cinema. My dedication and passion for the industry have driven me to seek out new challenges and experiences, and I am always looking for ways to grow and develop as an artist.
As a performer, I take pride in my ability to bring depth, emotion, and authenticity to every role and project I undertake. I am a hardworking and dedicated professional, and I always strive to deliver my best work."
LAURA SALAZAR BOGOYA
PHOTOGRAPHER
LAURA is a photographer and printmaker from Bogotá Colombia who uses various techniques including traditional, risography, and cyanotype photography. The artist also has self-published a photobook (2021).
"What does it mean to remain and inhabit? How and where do you put down roots? How wide can you spread them? For the last 9 years I have lived between Bogota and Helsinki. These questions came from a feeling of starting all over again every time I moved, a feeling of constant transition and adaptation. Me divided, questioned, contrasted. This is a long term, self-reflecting and multidisciplinary art project in which I use photography, drawing, video and text as ways to blur the limits between 'here' and 'there'."
LADY SANCHEZ MACIAS
TEXTILE ARTIST AND SEAMSTRESS
SANCHEZ MACIAS heads a sustainable fashion and accessory brand that upcycles fabrics, making them into high-quality and trendy items.
"I am so in love with sewing that time literally flies when I am sitting at my machine. I also do alterations or mending so if you are loving one piece of clothing but you are not ready to let it go, let's give/adjust it a new life."
PAULA SARASTE
VISUAL ARTIST, PHOTOGRAPHY, PERFORMANCE
Paula Saraste (b.1981) is a visual artist who works with film, photography and performance. The themes of her works are often related
to the relationship between the past and the present as well as fear and identity, and they talk about broader questions beyond their
psychological level. She received her MfA Degree from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2016. She has had and taken part in
exhibitions in i.e. gallery Myymälä2 (2022) and Forum Box (2021) in Helsinki and Galerie Heike Arndt / Inselgalerie in Berlin (2022).
Other recent exhibitions include Paraika | Six Works in Ballhaus Rixdorf Studios in Berlin (2022) and Vast Distances, Galleria Becker,
Jyväskylä (2023).
KATHARINA SCHMIDT
CONTEMPORARY ARTIST.
I am Katharina Schmidt, a Finnish-German contemporary artist from Helsinki, Finland. Art has always been the way for me to observe the world and work through experiences - whether it was as a kid late at night under candle light at my summer house or preparing my next exhibition in my studio in Helsinki. Each art work has a story, a purpose, a personality.
I have grown up in a melting pot of different cultures and languages and in my art I want to explore fundamental questions about existence. I have never truly felt like belonging in one place, yet somehow I belong everywhere, and I seek to understand very different kinds of world views. To me art is the mirror of humanity - it shows what we as humans experience beneath the surface in ways that other methods cannot.
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SADJAD SHOKOOHI
WOOD ARTIST
"I came to Finland from Iran in 2014 to study, and fell in love with Finland so deep that after graduation I decided to stay in Finland.
I see myself as a woodart lover who has been doing Intarsia for the past 15 years, as a person who is enthusiastic about cultures, multiculturalism and feminism; who gets fascinated by literature and beautiful minds; and who has tried to combine educational sciences, cultural communication studies and art in his life to be able to positively affect his surroundings."
HANNA-KAISA SEPPÄLÄ
PAINTER, CERAMICS, EXPERIMENTAL ARTIST
Seppälä is an art student living and working in Finland, whose soul wanders in the fells of the north and whose toes dance on the hot beach sand of the south. The artist enjoys working in versatility, painting with acrylics, ink and oil colors on canvas, plywood and plexiglass.
"My way of working is very experimental and the expression is a combination of representational and abstract. I also make ceramics and often combine recycled material with it. My art often starts from a feeling, memory, color or music. There is always music playing in my basement workshop. I love the feeling when the painting takes its time and the sense of time disappears. Colors are important, there can be violent colors in the works, but nowadays they have approached a monochromatic way of presentation. Simplicity, strong colors, clarity, with a twist."
ANNA SIUKOLA
PRODUCT DESIGNER, MAKER, ARTIST
I am a Russian-born Finland-based artist, a multinational person, which I believe, is my asset. I am an artist who has absorbed different cultural heritage. I find it important for an artist to bring their personality to their works. My artistic style highlights my diverse cultural background.”
I believe that art is important for a human. Someone needs to make, others – to observe, but in any case, while art is not a necessity that humans need to survive, yet, I believe, it is important for the psychological health of people. There are many art forms available these days, but what combines them all – is their effect on a human: it is therapeutic, healing, thought-evoking, and imagination-stimulating.
I am a visualist. I see beauty in everything that surrounds me: every little object, color, form, texture. I get inspired easily. Also, I am extremely curious, I love to learn new techniques and work with very different materials, for example, glass, ceramics, paint, metal, resin, concrete… you name it!
To connect to nature, I am fond of the minimum waste concept, which is why I often use recycled materials in my works. “Giving objects a second life” is my designer motto.
EDUARDO SOLORZANO TEJEDA
VISUAL ARTIST, DIGITAL DESIGNER & ILLUSTRATOR
SOLORZANO TEJEDA is a Mexican-born artist, and digital designer based in HELSINKI since 2016.
His versatile background includes product design (Ux/Ui), graphic design, visual branding, illustration, and textile design.
Eduardo loves making patterns and prints by hand.
His favorite topics for inspiration revolve around nature, cultures, and food.
ANNA STANKEVICH
MIXED MEDIA ARTIST AND ILLUSTRATOR
Anna Stankevich is an international illustrator and fine artist, previously working in London and now living in Helsinki. She works predominantly with pens, ink and water-based media to create nature-inspired works of intricate detail and delicate style. A lot of her work is black and white but she also enjoys experimenting with minimal colours. Her illustrative drawings are often a mix of surreal and emotive themes; full of birds, wildlife and botanical motifs. Anna's illustrations have been used in commercial projects and her original artwork is part of several private collections.
She has been serving as membership secretary for HIAA for the past two years.
DACE STRAUSA
PAINTER, OIL
A Latvian born artist, STRAUSA is an oil and multi-disciplinary artist living now in Finland. Her love for animals in childhood grew to a horse breeding studies (with limited study options behind the iron curtain). During which time, the artist was able to master equine anatomy, behavior, character and visual diversity in her paintings.
"For as long as I can remember myself, I have always been drawing and have taken particular pleasure in this activity.
Later on, I studied at the Art Academy of Latvia preparatory courses, but I've learned more by doing and learning from artists. For a year, I studied at a photography school with an internationally renowned photography artist. This way, layer by layer, I've built my professional skills."
STRAUSA showcases her work in exhibitions. these have taken place in global museum spaces, occasionally taking
From time to time, I showcase my work in exhibitions. Her paintings have taken place in several countries' galleries, museums and shows.
KIRSI SYRLIN
ARTIST
Kirsi Syrlin is a professional Finnish artist who has just returned back to Espoo after three years of living in Belgium. She has held several exhibitions in Europe, latest ones in Finland, Italy and Belgium. Her art works are also seen at the Atkinson Collection Gallery, Chicago, USA. Her art can be seen in many private collections in Europe and City of Helsinki has her paintings at Kivelä hospital walls. She has also had a solo exhibition at the Embassy of Finland in Brussels. She has now representation contracts with galleries in Italy and USA. Last year her art pieces were published in an Italian Artinside Magazine by curator Maddalena Grazzini and she was invited to participate to the Florence Biennale in October 2019.
