Lokal Creators / Matti Pikkujämsä

Matti Pikkujämsä is an esteemed freelance illustrator and artist since, working in the interface of art and illustration, making free paintings and drawings in addition to commissions. Many know him by his weekly illustration in Helsingin Sanomat, and his wooden relief pieces, first exhibited at Lokal in 2015, became an instant crowd favourite. We visited his make-shift studio room in his Helsinki apartment just before we started setting up his solo exhibition Variations (13.1.–11.2.2023). 

Lokal Creators / Matti Pikkujämsä

Matti Pikkujämsä is an esteemed freelance illustrator and artist since, working in the interface of art and illustration, making free paintings and drawings in addition to commissions. Many know him by his weekly illustration in Helsingin Sanomat, and his wooden relief pieces, first exhibited at Lokal in 2015, became an instant crowd favourite. We visited his make-shift studio room in his Helsinki apartment just before we started setting up his solo exhibition Variations (13.1.–11.2.2023).

Lokal: What are some of the daily things that inspire your creative process?

Matti: “Drawing is an everyday practice for me, I always keep a sketchbook with me and close-by and I can write down ideas. I look at a lot of pictures of art and design, that inspires me. I walk a lot, it fuels creativity. Music helps create moods and liven up and it energises. I listen to a lot of music while working. I also read a lot and I notice that it increases my desire to make art.”

L: What kind of a relationship do you have with your pieces; both their subject and their materiality?

M: “Topics may often be secondary. I might have an idea related to the material that I want to try and I think about the topic on its terms. I often make series on the same topic, which allows me to go deeper in both the topic and the method. Drawing is also increasingly interesting the more you do it. Looking and thinking about the image are interesting things, an endless world.”

L: What made you interested in painting and drawing?

M: “I have been drawing and painting since I was little, for as long as I remember. I have noticed that it is the most natural way for me to be, and take my place in the world. Drawing is observation, I am an observer.”

Shop: Matti Pikkujämsä’s Works

Explore: Lokal Creators

Lokal Creators / Armi Teva

Armi Teva is a visual artist and designer living in Helsinki. Teva operates in various fields, including sculpture, illustration and public art pieces. The works are united by a playful style, bold use of colours and a passion for drawing. Ceramics is one material close to Teva. She held an exhibition of ceramic reliefs on Lokal’s White Wall at the end of 2024, and we visited her studio as she was wrapping up the year.

Lokal Creators / Réka Király

Réka Király is a visual storyteller. Born in Budapest, Hungary, and she currently lives and works in Helsinki, Finland. Kiraly’s works capture the delicate individualism and uniqueness of people in the form of plants. These portraits are dialogues showing the emerging repetitive elements in nature. We visited her home studio in connection to her Lokal White Wall exhibition Seedling. 

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.