Kristina Riska (b. 1960, Finland) is one of Scandinavia’s foremost contemporary ceramic artists and a senior member of the Arabia Art Department Society in Helsinki. Riska has been exploring, defying, and redefining the traditional tenets of ceramic sculpture since the 1980s. Her unorthodox, large-scale works, inspired by nature and the properties of light and shadow, embody her rigorous and physical approach.
Riska begins the conceptualization of her works on paper, her designs ultimately coming to fruition spontaneously as she works. Her process is a foray into the unknown; with each unplanned, instinctive manipulation of the clay, she establishes a non-physical, internal space. She describes this space as a repository for qualities of quietude, serenity, and concentration. Her unique ceramic sculptures are astounding in their technical prowess; their impressive scale is matched with equal delicacy. The artist creates forms that seemingly defy gravity and the constraints of the ceramic process. Her craftsmanship is evident as well in the beauty of her glazes, given the limitations of firing such monumental objects in the kiln.
Riska’s 1986 exhibition at the Gallery Bronda included a series of vessels so large that even their installation proved difficult, impressing the State Art Collection, which purchased two works from the show; this began a career in which she has been well-recognized in her home country and abroad and has exhibited in many contexts and venues, including in 1991 in a joint exhibition with the architect Kimmo Friman. Riska’s curvaceous, imbricated, porous forms have been recognized with prestigious accolades including the State’s Suomi Prize in 1995 and a silver medal at the International Ceramic Contest in Mino, Japan in 2002.
KRISTINA RISKA
Finnish, b. 1960
EDUCATION
1979-84 University of Applied Arts, Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 Hidden, HB381, New York, USA
2021 Kristina Riska: Canopic, Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland
2020 Fysis, Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland
2019 Collect Fair, Hostler Burrows, London, UK
2018 Kristina Riska: New Works, Galleri Format, Oslo, Norway
Kristina Riska, Hostler Burrows, New York, USA
2015 Kristina Riska: New Work, Hostler Burrows, New York, USA
2010 Gallery Inger Molin, Stockholm, Sweden
2007 Gallery Inger Molin, Stockholm, Sweden
2006 Kristina Riska, Helsinki Design Museum, Finland
1996 Kristina Riska, Arabia Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
1987 Kristina Riska: Fragile Time, Arabia Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 Narrative Threads, Scandinavia House, New York, NY, USA
Northern Latitude 60.20890: The Arabia Art Department Society’s 20th
anniversary exhibition, Iittala & Arabia Design Centre, Helsinki, Finland
2022 Collection Kakkonen, Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, Finland
2019 The Secret of the Paradise, Arabia Design Centre, Helsinki
Opening Exhibition, Ceramic Museum Kwum, Fiskars Village, Finland
2018 Verynice, Bloodygood, Gallery Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland
2017 Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden
2016 Summer Exhibition, Fiskars Village, Finland
2015 Finland Embassy in Washington DC, USA
2014 Six Women, Hostler Burrows, New York, USA
2010 Westerwald Ceramic Museum, Germany
Fire and Ice: Ceramic Art from Finland, Gallery Marianne Heller, Heidelberg, Germany
2009 Collection Exhibition, Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Finland
Ceramic Museum Grimmerhus, Denmark
2008 Gallery Kaj Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland
Musée Des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France
2007 Forum Box, Helsinki, Finland
4+ Arthall, Luxembourg
4+ Arthall, Brussels, Belgium
2006 Transformations, Canberra, Australia
2005 Shigaraaki Ceramic Park, Koka, Japan
2004 European Ceramics, Fiskars Village, Finland
Q-exhibition, Fiskars Village, Finland
Kristina Riska, Kati Tuominen-Niittylä, Erna Aaltonen, Gallery Philippe Denys,
Brussels, Belgium
2003 Nordic Cool, The Kennedy Center, Washington DC, USA
Q-exhibition, Tokyo, Japan
2002 Poetics of Clay, Design Museum, Helsinki, Finland
The International Ceramics Exhibition, Mino, Japan
2001 Poetics of Clay, Philadelphia, USA
Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Cheongju, South Korea
Kristina Riska and Dörte Behm, Rheine, Germany
2000 Kristina Riska and Tiina Heiska, Gallery Johan S., Helsinki, Finland
Retretti Art Center, Punkaharju, Finland
Blue, Scandinavian Exhibition, Grimmehus Ceramic Museum, Denmark
Nordic Ceramic Triennale, Berlin, Germany
1997 Five Women, Design Forum, Helsinki, Finland
1995 Rauma Art Musuem, Rauma, Finland
1993 Ceramic Art, Lappeenranta Art Museum, Finland
1992 Art and Industry, Design Museum, Finland
1991 Ceramic Art, Lappeenranta Art Museum, Finland
Kristina Riska and Kimmo Friman, Gallery Kluuvi, Helsinki, Finland
1990 Helsinki Design Museum, Helsinki, Finland
1989 Thirteen Rooms, Gallery Wanha Satama, Helsinki, Finland
1988 The Touch, Art Hall, Helsinki, Finland
1987 Metaxis, Design Museum, Helsinki
Light and Material, Helsinki Art Museum, Finland
1986 Finnish Materials, Gallery Bronda, Helsinki, Finland
AWARDS AND GRANTS
2008 Honorary Award, Mino, Japan
2007 Finnish Cultural Foundation
2006 The State of Finland Art Commissions
2003 Finnish Cultural Foundation
2002 Silver medal, Mino, Japan
1998 Honorary award, Finnish Design 10 exhibition
1997 The State of Finland Central Commission for the Arts, working grant for 5 years
1995 Suomi-prize
D’Oro medal, Faenza, Italy
1994 The State of Finland Art Commissions, working grant for 1 year
1992 Finnish Cultural Foundation
1991 The State of Finland Art Commissions, working grant for 1/2 years
PROJECTS
2010 Visiting teacher, University of Illinois School of Architecture, USA
Designed an Installation at Kuopio Prison, Finland
2005 Public commission at Kamppi metro station, together with Kati Tuominen Niittylä and
Pekka Paikkari, Finland
Designed the KoKo table setting for Arabia, together with Kati Tuominen-Niittylä
2004 Public commission: Northern Latitude at Olympic Park, Athens, Greece
1993 Visiting teacher at Konstfack, Stockholm, Sweden
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Finland’s State Collection
Sweden’s State Collection
City of Helsinki, Finland
Ulster Museum, Belfast, Ireland
Wayne State College, Minnesota, USA
Helsinki Design Museum, Finland
Gifu Museum, Japan
Saastamoinen Foundation, Finland
MEMBERSHIPS
Arabia Art Department Society
Finnish Art Association
Ornamo Art and Design Finland
AIC/IAC International Academy for Ceramics
