Maiju Salmenkivi b. 1972

Organic, whirling brushstrokes infuse Maiju Salmenkivi’s paintings with a fairy-tale atmosphere. Interweaving fantasy and reality, her canvases pulse with an abundance of dreamlike detail. Although their underlying tone is one of quiet melancholy, fleeting bursts of joy surface throughout. Her distinctive palette is immediately recognizable: luminous greens and yellows entwine with myriad shades of pink. While her compositions evoke landscapes, they do not depict specific places. Instead, Salmenkivi turns inward, painting landscapes of the mind.

Maiju Salmenkivi (b. 1972) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in 2003. Her work has been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Finland and internationally, including at HAM Helsinki Art Museum, Turku Art Museum, and Landskrona Museum in Sweden. Her works are held in major public and private collections, including EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the Saastamoinen Foundation, Amos Rex, HAM Helsinki Art Museum, Turku Art Museum, and the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation.