Lokal Creators / Matias Karsikas

Matias Karsikas is a Helsinki-based sculptor and artist, whose work we have been presenting at Lokal for several years now in exhibitions both in Finland and abroad. He works primarily with ceramics, often in imaginative combinations with wood. His most recent pieces are a part of our 10 year anniversary exhibition Current. He was awarded Young Designer of the Year in 2020, and he is sure to continue to mesmerise us with his creations.

Lokal Creators / Matias Karsikas

Matias Karsikas is a Helsinki-based sculptor and artist, whose work we have been presenting at Lokal for several years now in exhibitions both in Finland and abroad. He works primarily with ceramics, often in imaginative combinations with wood. His most recent pieces are a part of our 10 year anniversary exhibition Current. He was awarded Young Designer of the Year in 2020, and he is sure to continue to mesmerise us with his creations.

“In the works in the Current exhibition, ceramics and glass meet wood, shaped by nature. In sculptures, the surface made of ceramic parts gives space to the glazes, turning them into picturesque studies of colour. The flowing, miscible glazes and crystals formed in the fires take on the colour brilliance of flora, fauna and minerals.

Lokal, with its group exhibitions and other projects, has been a significant partner since the beginning of my studies. Lokal does a very valuable job in representing the creators of Finnish design, art and handicrafts.”

Lokal: What is your design and production process like?

Matias Karsikas: In my working process, I trust a strong inner intuition. I often start with an vision of an idea or method. During the process, the idea becomes clearer and better. As the work develops, the material itself gives answers and often surprises. You have to listen to it! It is of great importance to me that at the beginning of the process, I do not understand my own motive. An excitement and mystery is thus maintained in the process, which I hope then is shown in the final pieces as well. I find it liberating to get to look for answers to questions I don’t yet have.

 

L: What is your own favourite work in your own production / in Lokal for sale?

M.K.: My favourite work in my production is a piece called Green Morning. I made it for the 140th anniversary exhibition of Finnish craftsmen at the Design Museum. Technically, the work is a ceramic relief. With a technique based on textile bonding structures, it is possible to create a ceramic surface in endless different ways and nuances. For myself, this type of work allows me to shift from sculpture to painting.
L: What important principles do you have in your making?

M.K.: I feel like I am moving in a middle ground between visual arts, design and handicraft tradition. The material itself inspires me. In design, a natural collaboration with the material is important to me. I want to justify the material and use it so that its own voice is visible alongside my handprint.

Shop: Matias Liimatainen’s Work

Explore: Lokal Creators

Lokal Creators / Saija Starr

Saija Starr is a painter living in Helsinki. Recent works depict nature and human nature, memories and memories of places that have left a strong trace in memory. Starr’s painting style is expressive, and colours play a most important role.We visited her studio just as the last coat of paint was drying on her pieces to be included in her Lokal White Wall exhibition, Tranquility.

Lokal Creators / Akiko Mori

Akiko Mori was born in Japan and studied sculpture at Art University in Tokyo. In 2022 she opened her new studio in Helsinki, which we visited to mark her Lokal White Wall exhibition, Geometric Spaces. She is interested in how physical properties, such as clay density and water content, affect the fluidity of the clay.

Lokal Creators / Benjamin Murphy

Benjamin Murphy, born in West Yorkshire, is a globally exhibiting visual artist. His current work explores themes of polarity, time, memory, and contrast – often rendered in charcoal on raw canvas. We visited his studio in Helsinki just before he set up his Lokal White Wall exhibition, Éanáir. 

Lokal Creators / Sini Villi

Sini Villi is a textile artist living and working in Helsinki, Finland. In her work Villi uses handmade ribbon to create three-dimensional textile reliefs and sculptures. We visited her Helsinki studio on a summer afternoon just after she’d set up her White Wall exhibition, Ammonites.