Essi Kuokkanen

Essi Kuokkanen (b. 1991) lives and works in Helsinki.

Kuokkanen’s practice explores the cycle of life, the coexistence of humans and animals, and embodied emotions. While her paintings often carry a wistful tone, she approaches her creatures with warmth and empathy, and at times, with humour. For Kuokkanen, the living and the inanimate are inseparable, and she may depict objects as sentient beings.

Her work draws on everyday observations and emotional experiences, depicting the emergence or gradual incarnation of something still unexplained. A sense of lingering menace often pervades her paintings.

Kuokkanen’s characters frequently appear in states of metamorphosis or transition, conveying a quietly reassuring message: imperfection is the condition we all inhabit, yet change is always possible.

Exhibition Freshly Painted 14.5.–30.8.2026

The composition of the painting is dominated by two long-necked birds striding from right to left. Between them, a bright, shimmering, unidentified source of light glimmers. The dark blue background evokes the night sky, and the twigs in the beak of the bird in the foreground create the impression of a bird’s nest.

At Night They Close Their Eyes to Forget Their Doings, 2026. Oil on canvas, 200 x 150 cm. Image: Jussi Tiainen. Courtesy Galerie Anhava.