Eeva Lietonen

Eeva Lietonen (b. 1987) lives and works in Helsinki.

Lietonen’s paintings foreground the cyclicity of time and the ceaseless circulation of matter on Earth. Employing a craft-based approach, her practice engages with materiality while reflecting on the experience of existing in the world.

The figures and forms in her paintings convey a recognisable human fragility. Oscillating between the figurative and the abstract, her motifs remain open to multiple interpretations. A pale oval shape, for instance, may suggest a face or an egg – its shell at once delicate and fiercely protective.

Lietonen paints primarily with oils she prepares herself. In the process, she reflects on the previous states of the pigments she uses. As the artist describes, “The transformation of materials can be as slow as the formation of a mountain or as subtle as a pigment’s reaction to heat.”

Exhibition Freshly Painted 14.5.–30.8.2026