Maija Laurinen is an artist who works with installations, still and moving image, text, light and the passage of time. Her installations are silent events of the ineffable, transient situations that undergo change where there is no movement.
Maija Laurinen
Born, lives and works in Nurmes, Finland.
Education
2019 Doctor of Arts, Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, Slovakia
2009 MFA in Photography, Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava
2006 BFA in Cinematography, Academy of Performing Arts, Bratislava
2003 Fine Arts, Liminka Art School, Finland
2002 London College of Music and Media, BFA Photography, London
Selected solo exhibitions
2021
Double Negative (w M. Czinege), Pimento, Oulu, Finland
200 Milliseconds and Beyond (with M. Czinege), Studio Mustanapa, Rovaniemi, Finland
2019
What Do We See When We See Dark Things?, European Month of Photography, Bratislava, Slovakia
Disappearing Act, with Michal Czinege, Gallery Ars Libera, Kuopio, Finland
2018
What Do We See When We See Dark Things?, Gallery Huuto, Helsinki, Finland
2017
Mute Land: Silence, Stillness and Stasis, Hippolyte Studio, Helsinki, Finland
Light/ Notes & Notions, Gallery Tyko, Nurmes, Finland
Thinking Stillness, Gallery Lapinlahti, Helsinki, Finland
2015
Night Palette, with M. Czinege. KulttuuriKauppila, Ii, Finland
Presence – Absence, with I. Sykorova. Nitra Gallery, Nitra, Slovakia
2014
This Is not a Love Story, with M. Czinege. Industrial Gallery, Ostrava, Czech Republic
Land – scape, with I. van Oijen. Gallery Alfa, Kasárne Kulturpark, Kosice, Slovakia
2013
Have We Met Before?, Gallery Tyko, Nurmes, Finland
If and Only If, Galerie Pleiku, Berlin, Germany
2012
Silence My Song, Photoport Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia
If and Only If, SODA Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia
2011
If and Only If, Northern Photographic Centre, Oulu, Finland
2010
Shifting Spaces, Galerie G4, Cheb, Czech Republic
Viennafair (with Photoport Gallery), Vienna, Austria
From Dusk till Dawn, Soda Gallery, Bratislava
2009
Brno Art Fair (with Photoport Gallery), Brno, Czech Republic
Shift Space, Galéria F7, Bratislava, Slovakia
2008
Mute landscapes, reflections, echoes, distancies, horizons and false horizons, Tranzit, Bratislava
The Mute Land, Ex Libris, Bratislava, Slovakia
Selected group exhibitions
2024
Puhallus, The Blast, XXVIII Mäntän kuvataideviikot / Mänttä Art Festival, Mänttä, Finland
Forest Line, Nitra Gallery, Nitra, Slovakia
2023
Kaiken takana / Beyong Everything, Haihatus Art Centre, Joutsa, Finland
2021
FLASH3 Light Art Biennial, Helsinki, Finland
2020
Fleeting Existence - Pieniä huomioita olemassaolon tavoista, Joensuu Art Museum, Finland
Smoke & Mirrors, Gallery Medium, Bratislava, Slovakia
New Acquisitions, Central European House of Photography, Bratislava, Slovakia
2019
ArtFair Suomi, Cable Factory, Helsinki, Finland
Art by Meter /participation in an installation of Artist Collective Kunst, Cable Factory, Helsinki, Finland
2017
ArtFair Suomi, Cable Factory, Helsinki, Finland
2016
5000 m2, Lappeenranta, Finland
2015
Tusenie FM’s, Freshmen’s, Bratislava, Slovakia
Zamatový objekt túzby, Galéria Gagarinka, Bratislava, Slovakia
2014
Renesancia fotografie, Central European House of Photography, Bratislava
2013
50 Words, Bratislava, Slovakia
2012
Fieldwork – Natural Landscape, House of photography, Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia
20 years of photography at The Slovak Academy of Fine Arts, Central Slovak Gallery, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia
Trau Dich Kunst!, Galerie Kuchling, Berlin
2011
A Youthful Medium, 20 years of photography at The Slovak Academy of Fine Arts, Month of Photography, Dom Umenia, Bratislava
Second Half, The Slovak Institute, Vienna, Austria
Drawing as Thinking 2, Gallery Na Bydliku, Brno, Czech Republic
2010
Drawing As Thinking, Medium Gallery, Bratislava
Second Half, Gallery VSPU, Prague, Czech Republic; Maribor Art Gallery, Slovenia
PORTraits, Slovak Institute Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
Photoport Vol. 1, Espoo Culture Center, Finland; Jyväskylä University Gallery, Jyväskylä, Finland
20 years of photography at the Slovak Academy of Fine Arts, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia; Prague, Czech Republic
2009
Prague Photo Festival, Prague, Czech Republic
Skúter II – Biennial of young art, Jan Koniarek Gallery, Trnava, Slovakia
Second Half Time, Medium Gallery, Bratislava
Master diploma works of Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Dom Umenia, Bratislava
Tranzit Bratislava Martin, Turcianska galéria, Martin, Slovakia
2008
Inside, Nitra Gallery, Nitra, Slovakia
50 words, Bratislava
Residencies
2016 AiR Sandnes, Norway
2015 Kulttuurikauppila, Ii, Finland
Memberships
Photographic Artists' Association, Finland
Artists’ Association of Finland
Awarded Grants
2025–26 Working Grant, Kone Foundation
2024 Working Grant, Arts Promotion Centre North Karelia, Finland
2023/24 Working Grant, Finnish Cultural Foundation, North Karelia
2021 State Grant for Artists, Arts Promotion Centre Finland
2019/20 Working Grant, Finnish Cultural Foundation, North Karelia
2017 Working Grant, Arts Promotion Centre, North Karelia, Finland
2013 Working Grant, Arts Promotion Centre, North Karelia, Finland
2011 State Grant for Artists, Arts Council of Finland
2011 Project grant, The Arts Council of North Karelia, Finland
2010 Project grant, Arts Council of Finland
2009 Dean’s Prize for Best MFA work, Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, Slovakia
Commissioned Public Artwork
2024 Toivomusten puu /in collaboration with M. Czinege, Elias Lönnrot park, Nurmes, Finland
2019 Karhusaari /in collaboration with M. Czinege, Pikku-Kaarle nursery, Nurmes, Finland