Leena Nio
Photo: Kalle Nio
Leena Nio's (b. 1982, Helsinki) skilful and detailed paintings are both concrete and conceptual. Her works are mainly oil paintings whose layering creates both material and spatial illusions in the pictorial space. Nio is interested in the possibilities of painting as a means of expression, and the changing themes and painting techniques that frame her works stem from this interest.
The layering and framing of an image are both important elements in Nio's paintings. The works can be tightly cropped portraits, in which attention is drawn to details that initially seem irrelevant. The loops of a knitwear, the surfaces of fabrics or unruly hairs are everyday observations that are mundane but at the same time, contain a whole life. The layered nature of the works comes from the rich textures and details, but also from the creative treatment of the surface of the painting.
Leena Nio graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki in 2010 and won the Finnish Art Association's Ducat Prize the same year. In 2014, Nio was nominated for the Ars Fennica Art Prize. Her works have been shown in numerous solo exhibitions in Finland and Sweden and in group exhibitions in various art museums in Europe and the United States. Nio's works are included in the most important contemporary art collections in Finland, such as those of the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the Saastamoinen Foundation, and the collections of HAM Helsinki Art Museum and Sara Hildén Art Museum. Nio has also made public art works, most recently Haavekuvia, which was completed in 2021 for the Finnoo metro station in Espoo, Finland.