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
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
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
2019             Karhusaari /in collaboration with M. Czinege, Pikku-Kaarle nursery, Nurmes, Finland​​​​​​​
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