Felicia Honkasalo lives and works in Helsinki, Finland and has a Masters from the Department of Time-based Arts, University of the Arts, Helsinki, and a B.A in Photography from University of the Arts, London UK. Her work has been shown in Finland and abroad in solo exhibitions, group exhibitions and at international film screenings. Her first monograph, Grey Cobalt, was published by Loose Joints in 2019 (UK).
Recent exhibitions include: Sinne Gallery, Helsinki, Finland (2024); Turku Art Museum, Finland (2022); Helsinki Biennial, Finland (2021); Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Latvia (2020), Webber Gallery, London, UK (2019). Film Screenings include: BFI London Film Festival (Official Selection) (2021); Minimalen Festival, Norway, (2023); Videoformes International Festival, Official Selection, France, (2022); Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany, (2021); Seoul International Film Festival, Korea, (2021). Residencies include SeMA Nanji, Seoul Museum of Art, South Korea (2023); Montello, Nevada, USA (2023) WISC, Santa Fe, USA (2022); ISCP(International Studio and Curatorial Program), New York, USA (2019). Reviews of her work have appeared in Artforum, Wallpaper, British Journal of Photography and other publications.
Through her work, she delves into the interplay between memory and history, as well as the boundaries between life and death, human and animal. Her primary fascination lies in how our fluctuating relationship to the surrounding world shapes the narratives we construct, the belief systems we form, and the histories we create. With a combination of critical analysis and poetic expression, she strives to question established modes of thought and encourage new ways of seeing the world. She often collaborates with other artists and scholars.
Education
2016 Master of Fine Arts, University of the Arts, Helsinki, Finland
2010 Bachelor of Photography, University of the Arts London, London, UK
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024 Solo Show, Sinne Gallery, Helsinki, Finland (Upcoming)
2022 Atomic, Turku Art Museum, Turku, Finland (HNV Collective)
2021 Share the Fantasy, Finnish Cultural Institute, Stockholm, Sweden (HNV Collective)
2019 Grey Cobalt, Webber Gallery, London, UK
2018 Terminal Beach, Titanik Galleria, Turku, Finland (HNV Collective)
2018 Chimera, Vasa Kunsthalle, Vasa, Finland (HNV Collective)
2018 Chimera, Sinne Galleria, Helsinki, Finland (HNV Collective)
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 Atomic, Backlight Festival, Tampere, Finland (HNV Collective)
2023 Atomic, Minimalen Short Film Festival, Trondheim, Norway (HNV Collective, Screening)
2022 Atomic, 2022 International Festival, Official Selection, France (HNV Collective, videoformes)
2021 Ghost in the Atom,(new commission), London Film Festival (world premiere), London, UK (VR-video installation)
2021 Lazarus (new commission), Helsinki Biennale, Helsinki, Finland (HNV Collective)
2021 Atomic, Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany/Online (HNV Collective, Screening)
2021 Atomic, Seoul International Film Festival, Seoul, Korea (HNV Collective, Screening)
2020 Atomic (new commission), Riga International Biennale of Contemporary Art, Riga, Latvia
2021 Atomic, Pori International Film Festival, Pori, Finland (HNV Collective)
2019 Grey Cobalt, New York Book Art Fair, New York, USA (Book Signing)
2019 Atomsite, ISCP Open Studios, New York, USA (HNV Collective)
2019 Today is Our Tomorrow, Terminal Beach, Publics, Helsinki, Finland (HNV Collective, Screening)
2019 Requiem, ISCP Open House, New York, USA (HNV Collective, Performance)
2018 Nature Morte - Radio Essay, Yle Radio, Yle, Finland (HNV Collective)
2018 Chemical Charm, Silicon Malley, Prilly, Switzerland (HNV Collective)
2018 Chimera, Levanluhdan lahde, Finland (HNV Collective, On-site soundwalk)
2018 Nature Morte, Madhouse Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland (HNV Collective, Theater Performance)
Publications
2020 45 Artistes Internationaux, Paris: Nonfiction
2019 Grey Cobalt, London: Loose Joints (Artist Book)
2019 Crossroads, USA/FIN: Finnish Cultural Institute
2019 Vostok Mag Issue 16, Seoul: Vostok
Residencies
2023 SeMA Nanji Residency, Seoul, Korea
2023 Artist in Residence, Montello, Nevada, USA
2023 More-than-Planet Residency Program, Finland
2022 Artist Fellow at WISC, Santa Fe, USA
2019 ISCP (International Studio and Curatorial Program), New York, USA
Grants & Awards
2023 Swedish Cultural Foundation Production Grant, Finland
2023 Exhibition Grant, Taike, Finland
2022 Audiovisual Production Grant, AVEK, Finland
2022 Oskar Oflund Foundation Grant, Finland
2022 Konstsamfundet Grant, Finland
2022 Shortlisted for the Below Zero Art Prize, UK/FIN
2021 3-year working grant, Finnish Cultural Foundation, Finland
2021 Frame Foundation Travel Grant, Finland
2020 Audiovisual Production Grant, AVEK, Finland
2020 Exhibition Grant, Frame Finland, RIBOCA, Finland
2019 2-year working grant, Kone Foundation, Finland
2018 SARV Finnish Critiques Associations - Best Newcomer Award as part of HNV Collective, Finland
Selected Press
2022 "Felicia Honkasalo turns heirlooms into a photo-biography of her late grandfather", Wallpaper, 10 October
2021 "Helsinki Biennial", Artforum, September
2019 "Art and Science collide in the works of Honkasalo-Niemi-Virtanen collective", FCINY, July-Decamber
2019 "Inside a Beautiful New Photography Book About Finland", Another Magazine, 10 January
2019 "Felicia Honkasalo’s portrait of her late grandfather", British Journal of Photography, 25 January
2019 "Felicia Honkasalo: Objects and Ontologies", American Suburb X, 4 April
2019 "Felicia Honkasalo uses objects, photos and notes to imagine who her grandfather was", It’s Nice That, 11 Febraury
