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Salla Salin

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki



Salla Salin
Born1975 (age 50–51)
Helsinki, Finland
🏫 EducationMA Performing Arts, University of Art and Design Helsinki (2005)
MA Visual Art, Aalto University (2014)
💼 Occupation
Visual artist, spatial designer
Known forInstallation art, performance art
🌐 Websitesallasalin.com

Salla Salin (born 1975) is a Finnish visual and performance artist based in Helsinki. She works across installation, sculpture, durational performance, and spatial design, and her work is concerned with how physical structures shape perception.[1][2] She holds master's degrees in both performing arts and visual arts.[3] She has exhibited at Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Kunsthalle Helsinki, and the Amos Anderson Art Museum, and internationally in New York, Tokyo, Prague, Berlin, and Wellington.[4] She is a founding member of Art Collective KOKIMO.[5]

Early life and education

Salin grew up in Nummela, in the municipality of Vihti, west of Helsinki.[6] She completed a Master of Arts in Performing Arts at the University of Art and Design Helsinki in 2005, then a second MA in Visual Art at Aalto University in 2014.[3] The University of Art and Design Helsinki merged into Aalto University in 2010.[3]

Artistic practice

In Finnish, Salin describes herself as a kuva- ja esitystaiteilija (visual and performance artist); her English-language professional title is "visual artist and spatial designer."[7][1] Her work is concerned with space as both a physical condition and something constructed by perception, exploring "the material and conceptual layers of existence and the structures of being."[2] According to the Poriginal gallery (Pori Art Museum), the starting idea matters more to her than any particular medium; her materials range "from the human body to light, sound and moving image."[8] Her installations tend to be large-scale, and the viewer's bodily presence is often part of the piece.[8]

Materials change from project to project: wood, thread, fabric, paper, light, sand, glass, natural stone, and dyed wood chips have all appeared in her work.[4] The through-line is an interest in how physical structures act on perception.[2][8]

In a 2020 interview with Voima, Salin described herself as having been "a freelancer my whole life," working in what she called "the margin of the margin" of the Finnish art world.[9] She is not represented by a commercial gallery and exhibits through institutional invitations, artist-run spaces, and collaborative projects.[4] She teaches part-time at Aalto University and the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki.[3]

Selected works

Red Rug (2007)

Red Rug, shown at Gallery Jangva in Helsinki, was one of Salin's earliest exhibited sculptures. It presented a rug made of wood and warp thread from which the weft had been removed, leaving only the structural skeleton. Without its surface, the object looked like a rug but could not function as one.[10]

White Thread (2008)

White Thread (Valkoista lankaa) was a two-day live installation at Kunsthalle Helsinki. Threads ran from glacier names on the walls to a knitted object on the floor. A single thread led from that object to a person knitting a scarf that was simultaneously unravelling from its starting point. The glacier names on the walls referred to actual glaciers, and the unravelling of the knitted scarf proceeded in real time for the duration of the installation.[11]

Passing / Birds of a Feather (2011)

Passing / Birds of a Feather was first shown at Kerava Art Museum as part of the group exhibition Reikä avaruudessa (Hole in the Universe), curated by Markku Hakuri.[12] The installation consisted of a flock of black birds made from dyed wood chips, suspended through the gallery at varying heights. Some forms appeared to have punched through the walls; others seemed to be arriving from outside.[4]

The work was later restaged at the Poriginal gallery in Pori. A visitor, J. Stiegele, reported: "I hear the rustle of wings, even though I know that sound is not mentioned in the work's materials list." The installation contains no audio component.[8]

15% (2012–2016)

15% is a performance installation made with Timo Rissanen, a fashion academic and sustainability researcher. The title refers to the approximately fifteen percent of fabric wasted in standard garment production.[13] A performer produces plain white t-shirts on a production line inside a gallery. Each numbered shirt is sold alongside its boutique-packaged off-cut waste for EUR 4.95.[14]

The work originated at Boutique: Where Art Meets Fashion at the Amos Anderson Art Museum in Helsinki, curated by Annamari Vänskä, and was part of both the Helsinki Festival and World Design Capital Helsinki 2012.[15] It then travelled to the Sheila and Arnold Aronson Gallery at Parsons School of Design in New York (2013), Washington, D.C. (2013), the Spiral Art Centre in Tokyo (2014), Felleshus in Berlin (2016),[16] and Wellington, New Zealand (2016).[14][17][18] In a 2016 review for Berlin Art Link, April Dell wrote that 15% used the plain white t-shirt as shorthand for disposable mass-produced clothing; each buyer received the fifteen per cent of fabric off-cuts along with the shirt, putting the problem of waste literally in their hands.[19] Marita Muukkonen reviewed the original Boutique exhibition in Kunstkritikk.[20] 15% has been shown in six countries across three continents, more than any other work in her output.[4][14]

Paper Piece (2015)

Paper Piece was co-created with Lithuanian dance artist Andrius Katinas and Finnish choreographer Vera Nevanlinna. Produced by Zodiak – Centre for New Dance in Helsinki, the work sat between dance, installation, and performance art. Its creators described it as dealing with "the concept of spectacle as a vestige of faith, authentic experience, rituals and divinity."[21] In the Zodiak programme credits, Salin is listed under koreografia & installaatio (choreography and installation), not as a spatial designer, making her a co-author of the choreography itself.[22] Maria Säkö, reviewing the work in Helsingin Sanomat, wrote that after an hour of watching paper being handled, the audience had been "in contact with the spirit of paper, perhaps even its god."[23] The piece toured to the NU Performance Festival at Tallinn Creative Hub.[24]

present_distance (Followers) (2017)

present_distance (Followers) was a durational performance at Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, part of the altARS17 festival organised by Art Collective KOKIMO. Salin conceived the work, which involved eight performers, and it was included in the official ARS17 exhibition programme.[25]

Pieces of a Continent (2018–2021)

Pieces of a Continent was a second collaboration with Timo Rissanen. The two had first met as teenagers in Nummela; by this point, Rissanen was living on a different continent. They exhibited the project at Galleria Huuto in Helsinki in late 2021.[26] Salin's contribution, World Volumes I–IV, consisted of sand from Nummelanharju, glass vessels, and natural stone, combining geological material with personal geography in small, table-scaled objects.[27] The project was supported by residencies at the Örö Residency Programme (a former military island in the Archipelago Sea) and the Åland Archipelago Guest Artist Residence.[6]

I Like to Talk to the Winds (2020, revived 2022)

I Like to Talk to the Winds was created during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Salin was a spatial designer and performer; choreographer Saara Töyrylä, sound designer Mercedes Krapovickas, and lighting designer Anna Pöllänen also contributed. The 35-minute work premiered at Merimelojien Maja in Helsinki and later toured to Contemporary Art Space Kutomo in Turku.[28] It was funded by the Kone Foundation, the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, and the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike).[29]

SOHVA: Keskusteluja utopioista (2024–2025)

SOHVA: Keskusteluja utopioista (Sofa: Conversations on Utopias) is a project with performance researcher Pilvi Porkola. A mobile sofa appears in different parts of Helsinki; invited guests sit with Porkola and Salin to discuss social change and utopias while passers-by can stop to listen or join.[30] The sofa is, in effect, an urban stage. A video exhibition of the 2024 Helsinki conversations was presented at Taiteen talo in 2025 as part of the New Performance Turku Biennale.[31] The project belongs to Porkola's artistic research at the University of the Arts Helsinki on the politics of teaching art through public performance.[30]

Rift (2025)

Rift is installed at TheSmallest, a micro-gallery in Helsinki's Vallila district. The work traces a cleft in rock created by geological forces and treats the gap between two rock masses as a space where darkness becomes light.[32] It is a small piece in a constrained showcase, quite different in scale from Salin's museum-sized installations.

Art Collective KOKIMO

Salin has been a founding member of Art Collective KOKIMO since 2010. KOKIMO is a Helsinki-based group of eight artists and designers who work across scenography, sound, light, and performance. Salin's role within the collective is "scenographer-artist."[5]

KOKIMO curated Finland's national exhibition at the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space 2019 (PQ19), an international scenography exhibition held every four years. Their concept, Fluid Stages, consisted of a site-sensitive installation inside Prague's Industrial Palace and seven performative satellite works placed around the city.[33] The collective had previously participated in the 2011 and 2015 editions, presented Conserved Light at the Lux Helsinki light festival in 2018, and organised the altARS17 happening at Kiasma.[34][5]

Exhibitions and reception

Salin's Finnish exhibition venues include Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art (2014, 2017)[35], Kunsthalle Helsinki (2008), Amos Anderson Art Museum (2012), Kerava Art Museum (2011), Zodiak – Centre for New Dance (2010, 2015, 2017), Galleria Huuto (2015, 2021)[36], Gallery Jangva (2007), Contemporary Art Space Kutomo in Turku (2022), and Voipaalan taidekeskus in Valkeakoski (2017).[4][37] Internationally, her work has been shown in New York, Washington, D.C., Tokyo, Berlin, Wellington, Prague, Tallinn, and Antwerp.[4]

Salin also works as a spatial designer and set designer for theatre and dance. Reviewing Kahdeksan surmanluotia (2010) at Teatteri Vanha Juko in Lahti, Maria Säkö wrote in Helsingin Sanomat that Salin built her set from bins, water drops, guns, and a back wall of firewood studded with moonshine bottles; under Juha Lukinmaa's lighting these became, in Säkö's description, sculptural images.[38] Säkö also noted that Salin's spatial design for Maan päällä paikka (2020) at Zodiak made even small movements feel like part of the space,[39] and that for Joona Halonen's Tight (2017) at Cirko, Salin co-created a space in which the performers shifted between being tortured prisoners and stereotypical city people.[40]

Marita Muukkonen reviewed the Boutique exhibition, which included 15%, in Kunstkritikk in October 2012.[20] April Dell reviewed the touring Boutique exhibition in Berlin Art Link in January 2016, with 15% receiving the most detailed discussion among the exhibited works.[19] Säkö reviewed Kolme huonetta (Three Rooms, 2010) at Zodiak, where Salin was one of three concept and design creators; Säkö described Salin's wood-chip floor, hanging speakers, and gauze-covered back wall, and wrote that because no single discipline dominated, each element became visible on its own terms.[41] Säkö also reviewed Paper Piece in Helsingin Sanomat in 2015.[23] Pilvi Porkola interviewed Salin for Voima magazine in March 2020.[9]

Grants and residencies

Salin has received grants from the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike), the Finnish Cultural Foundation (Uusimaa Regional Fund), the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, the Kone Foundation, and the Samuel Huber Arts Foundation.[4][29] She has held residencies at the Örö Residency Programme, the Åland Archipelago Guest Artist Residence, Ehkä-production/Contemporary Art Space Kutomo in Turku, and Routa Company/Generaattori in Kajaani.[4][28] She is listed on the NOBA (Nordic and Baltic Contemporary Art) platform.[42]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "About". sallasalin.com. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Artist statement". sallasalin.com. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "CV — Education and teaching positions". sallasalin.com. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 "CV — Exhibition history and grants". sallasalin.com. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Fluid Stages at PQ19". KOKIMO. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Rissanen, Timo. "Pieces of a Continent, 2018–2021". timorissanen.com. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  7. ↑ "Ansioluettelo (CV), April 2020" (PDF). sallasalin.com (in suomi). Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 "Passing / Birds of a Feather: Salla Salin". Poriginal gallery (Pori Art Museum). Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Porkola, Pilvi (March 2020). "Pöydän alla Mia Kivisen ja Salla Salinin kanssa". Voima (in suomi). Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  10. ↑ "Red Rug". sallasalin.com. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  11. ↑ "White Thread". sallasalin.com. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  12. ↑ "Keravan taidemuseon näyttelyt Klondyketalossa vuosina 1990–2012". Sinkka / Kerava Art Museum (in suomi). Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  13. ↑ "15%". sallasalin.com. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Rissanen, Timo. "15%, 2012–2016". timorissanen.com. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  15. ↑ Rissanen, Timo (December 2015). "15% in Berlin". timorissanen.wordpress.com. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  16. ↑ "Boutique: Where Art Meets Fashion". Nordische Botschaften (in Deutsch). 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  17. ↑ "Fashion Interactions". Finnish Cultural Institute in New York. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  18. ↑ "Stitch by Stitch: Toward Sustainable Fashion". The New School News. December 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  19. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Muukkonen, Marita (October 2012). "Fighting Fire with Fire". Kunstkritikk. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  20. ↑ "Paper Piece". sallasalin.com. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  21. ↑ "Paper Piece". Zodiak (in suomi). Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  22. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Säkö, Maria (11 April 2015). "Paper Piece -tanssiteos koskettaa pyhyyttä". Helsingin Sanomat (in suomi). Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  23. ↑ "NU Performance Festival: Paper Piece". Tallinn Creative Hub. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  24. ↑ "present_distance (Followers)". sallasalin.com. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  25. ↑ "Timo Rissanen, Salla Salin: Pieces of a Continent". Galleria Huuto. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  26. ↑ Rissanen, Timo. "Pieces of a Continent, 2018–2021 (project description)". timorissanen.com. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  27. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "I Like to Talk to the Winds". Ehkä-production. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  28. ↑ 29.0 29.1 "I Like to Talk to the Winds (credits)". Ehkä-production. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  29. ↑ 30.0 30.1 "SOHVA". Todellisuuden tutkimuskeskus (in suomi). Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  30. ↑ "NPTB: SOHVA — Keskusteluja utopioista (videonäyttely)". Taiteen talo (in suomi). Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  31. ↑ "Salla Salin: Rift". TheSmallest. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  32. ↑ "Fluid Stages at PQ19". Suomen Oistat-keskus ry. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  33. ↑ "KOKIMO". KOKIMO. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  34. ↑ "Poikkeustila – esitystaidetapahtuma". Nykytaiteen museo Kiasma (in suomi). 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  35. ↑ "Salla Salin: LOSSLESS 1 (Surround System)". Galleria Huuto. 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  36. ↑ "Menneet näyttelyt". Voipaalan taidekeskus (in suomi). Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  37. ↑ Säkö, Maria (24 January 2010). "Arvaamattomasta väkivallasta muovautuu teatteritapaus". Helsingin Sanomat (in suomi). Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  38. ↑ Säkö, Maria (22 January 2020). "Naisvangit tanssivat Zodiakin esityksessä esiin turvan ja vapauden kaipuuta". Helsingin Sanomat (in suomi). Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  39. ↑ Säkö, Maria (7 September 2017). "Joona Halosen Tight-koreografia tulvii arvoituksellista aggressiota". Helsingin Sanomat (in suomi). Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  40. ↑ Säkö, Maria (19 September 2010). "Luonto puskee läpi". Helsingin Sanomat (in suomi). Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  41. ↑ "Timo Rissanen, Salla Salin: Pieces of a Continent". NOBA. Retrieved 10 February 2026.


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