Päivikki Kallio

Working with different materials, visual artist Päivikki Kallio experiments with the foundations and verges of printmaking. Stretching the spatial possibilities of working with print is typical to Kallio’s practice, and this gives a large part of her work a unique material starting point. She is highly versatile in her use of different media, using for example video, sculpture, plaster, sandblasting, copper sheets and mirrors.

Her works are often installations, in which the lighting plays a crucial part. The print can be created with light and shadow, or sandblasted on different surfaces and made visible with lighting.

Throughout her artistic career, Kallio has examined the themes of childhood, family, and memory. Her 2009 exhibition Are You My Father? dealt with the feelings of alienation and otherness caused by growing up without a father. Consisting of sculptures made of parts of furniture, sandblasted photographs and video, the installation discusses the disorientation of identity caused by a confusing domestic situation.

Are You My Father? continues the series of works Being a Family (2007), which comprises of round-shaped works of sandblasted mirror and ink featuring old photographs.

During her two-month residency period in New York, Kallio was exploring new practices in the field of printmaking, such as street art, experimental animation, non-profit printmaking workshops, letterpress printing, and zine publications.