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Veera Kulju - Artists + Designers - Hostler Burrows

Veera Kulju in her studio, photo by Ilkka Kärkkäinen 

Veera Kulju - Artists + Designers - Hostler Burrows

Veera Kulju, Photo by Ilkka Kärkkäinen

Veera Kulju (Finnish, b. 1975) is a multi-media artist living and working in Helsinki, Finland. Self-described as a “hybrid of a curious, random-minded artist and a rational, business-oriented designer,” Kulju creates work that poetically dances along the line between art and design, toying with the distinctions between the decorative and the functional. Working primary with ceramics and textiles, she makes intensely layered work hand-built from small, distinct and precious elements. These small pieces, when brought together, give way to a larger compositional intent of fragile beauty and timelessness with nature often playing a central role. While Kulju generally uses a restrained palette of black and white, she is experimental with the materiality of the objects. She frequently introduces unexpected characteristics within one work employing a variety of glazes, both matte and glossy, and shapes, both smooth and sharp-edged, and evoking a physical experience when viewed.

Kulju, after studying at the School of Design and Crafts, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and Vihti School of Art and Craft, received a BA from Lahti University of Applied Science, Institute of Design, Experimental Design in 2005, and her MA in 2010 from Aalto University, School of Art and Design. She was a visiting artist at the Arabia Art Department in 2017-2018. Kuljiu’s work was commissioned to be included in the Finnish State Art Collection and was recently acquired by the National Museum in Stockholm, and she has exhibited widely throughout Finland and abroad.

CV

VEERA KULJU
b. 1975, Finland

EDUCATION
2005–2010   Aalto University, School of Art and Design, MA Applied Art and Design, Helsinki, Finland
2001–2005  Lahti University of Applied Science, Institute of Design, BA Experimental Design, Lahti, Finland
2004 School of Design and Crafts, University of Gothenburg, Exchange Studies, Gothenburg, Sweden
1997–2000 Vihti School of Art and Craft, Interior Textiles, Artesan, Finland

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022  A Horse, The Forest, A Father, Gallery Halmetoja, Helsinki, Finland
2021  Noir, Gallery Halmetoja, Helsinki, Finland
2019  Forest Returns, Täky - Design Autumn, Lappeenranta, Finland
          Sounds of Silence, Konsthantverkarna gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
2018   NAKU, Mältinranta Artcenter Studio, Tampere, Finland
           Holy Wood, ARTag gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2010   Shadows & Threads, School of Art & Design, Helsinki, Finland

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022   Recent Works by Veera Kulju, Marianne Huotari, Hanne G., HB381, New York, NY
           After Glow, New Nordic Porcelain, Kunsthall Grenland – Porsgrunn, Norway
           After Glow, New Nordic Porcelain, Clay Museum of Ceramic Art, Middelfart, Denmark
           After Glow, New Nordic Porcelain, Gustavsberg Porcelain Museum, Sweden
2021   Ceramics Facing the New, EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Finland
           LUONTO RETKI, Nastolan kesänäyttely 2021, Nastola, Finland
           Solid Ground, IAC Post Tour -program, Väre-Building, Otaniemi, Finland
           Coming home to Seoul, FACTORY2, Seoul, South Korea
           On the Edge – Äärellä, Rovaniemi Art Museum, Finland
           SIELUNMAISEMA, Glasshouse Helsinki, Finland
2020   Ceramega 2020 – National Ceramic Exhibition, Voipaala Art Center, Sääksmäentie, Finland
           Forest Primeval, Hostler Burrows, Los Angeles, CA
           Mexico & the Nordics: A Meditation on Individuality in Craft, Tradition, & Modernism,
           Adorno Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
2019   Dark Matters, Taidekeskus itä, Riutta, Lappeenranta, Finland
           Coming Home III, Lokal Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
           Re/Defining Finnish Contemporary Art & Design, Spazio Nobile Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
           London Design Week, Adorno Gallery, London, UK
           CHART Design, curated by Lokal Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
           Perspectives, Iittala & Arabia Design Centre, Helsinki, Finland
           Coming Home II, Lokal Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
           Collectible, curated by Lokal Gallery, Brussels, Belgium,
           Re/Defining Finnish Contemporary Art & Design,
           The Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux & Spazio Nobile Gallery at Collectible,
           Brussels, Belgium
           Institut Finlandais, Paris, France
           Spazio Nobile Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2018   Coming Home, Lokal Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
           Juhlat, curated by Lokal Gallery, Institut finlandais, Paris, France
           CHART Design, curated by Lokal Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
           Fiskars Summer House Exhibition, Fiskars Village, Finland
           TypoCraftHelsinki, Reykjavík Art Museum, Hafnarhús Island, Finland
           Line, Lokal Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2017   Enchanted Forest, Lokal Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
           Typocraft, Lokal Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
           Kisses and Popcorn, Arabia Art Department Society, Designcentre, Helsinki, Finland
           Arabia Art Department Society, SEB Bank, Helsinki, Finland
2016   Yhes, Lokal Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
           Signals & ASUN, Habitare Ahead!, Helsinki, Finland
           Smaragdus, Lokal Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2015   Ugly Truth, Habitare Ahead!, Helsinki, Finland
2013   Another Setting, Lokal Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
           Give a New Life, MONA the Museum of New Art, Pärnu
2012   Hirameki Himmeli, Tokyo, Japan
           Finnish Design Unwrapped, Istanbul Design Biennal, Turkey
           Yhteinen Pöytä, Empiresali Helsinki, Finland
           Everyday Discoveries, Suvilahti Helsinki, Finland
           Protoshop, Habitare Ahead!, Helsinki, Finland
           Finnish Design Unwrapped, Helsinki Design Museum, Finland

2011   Hells Looks, Antwerp, Belgium
           Finnish Design Unwrapped, London Design Festival, United Kingdom
           Protoship, Habitare Ahead!, Helsinki, Finland
           DMY International Design Festival, Berlin, Germany
           Awake, Argos Young Designers at Argosshall, Helsinki, Finland
           Open 140, Design Museum, Helsinki, Finland
           Masters of Arts 2011, Salmisaarentalo Helsinki, Finland
2010   Protoyp Köln, Iso-Roba 4-5, Helsinki, Finland
2009   Sprouts, Young Designers at Argoshall, Helsinki, Finland
2008   Nice08, Nordic Art and Culture Festival, Bluecoat, Liverpool, United Kingdom
           100 Show, Helsinki Design Week, Cable Factory, Helsinki, Finland
           Wandering, European Commission Representation, London, United Kingdom
           Fennofolk, New Nordic Oddity, Design Museum, Helsinki, Finland
           THIS IS ME WHO ARE YOU Young Designers, Argoshall, Helsinki, Finland
           100% Finlande, Helsinki á Saint Suplice, Paris, France
2007   Table is Set, Helsinki Design Week, Esplanadi Park, Helsinki, Finland
2006   Helsinki Biennale, Myymälä 2, Helsinki, Finland
           The Daughters of Midas, Jewellery on Tour, Helsinki, Finland

SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Arabia Art Department Society
Suomen Laatukeskus
Finnish State Art Commission Collections, Finland
The Nationalmuseum Stockolm, Sweden
Serlachius Museum, Finland

GRANTS
2022 Arts Council of Finland
2021 Arts Council of Finland
         FRAME
         Finnish Cultural Foundation
2020 Greta ja William Lehtisen’s Foundation
         TAIKE
         Arts Council of Finland
2019 Finnish Cultural
2018 Finnish Cultural Foundation
         Arts Council of Finland
2017 Arts Council of Finland
2016 Arts Council of Finland
2009 Arts Council of Finland
2008 Finnish Cultural Foundation, Raivio & Kulju, group exhibition project
2007 Finnish Cultural Foundation, The Daughters of Midas, group exhibition project

RESIDENCIES
2018 Arabia Art Department Society, Visiting Artist
2017 Arabia Art Department Society, Visiting Artist

MEMBERSHIPS
Ornamo
Artists O
The Jewellery Art Association
The Association of Finnish Sculptors

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