Riikka Sormunen

Riikka Sormunen (b. 1987, Helsinki) is a mostly self-taught painter based in Helsinki. She is interested in escapism by methodical repetition, balancing between sensory overload and sensual bliss. Searching for ways to imitate tactility by using memory and deduction, Sormunen delicately stages compositions where characters, plants, and objects strike a pose for the viewer. In these scenes an eagerness to please is in constant battle with the need for honesty. The artist plays with contrast through color, texture, and pattern, as well as the subject matter and the process. While meticulously crafting each composition, Sormunen blindly trusts in visions that surface during daydreams. 

Sormunen’s paintings have been shown in Finland and abroad, with recent group exhibitions at Sara Hildén Art Museum in Tampere and Fondazione Maddadela di Giacomo in Venice. Her solo exhibition Only Lovers took place at Richard Heller Gallery in 2025, following several group exhibitions with the gallery. Sormunen has also shown with galleries such as Kravets Wehby Gallery (2024), Everyday Mooonday (2023), Marvin Gardens (2022) and Kosminen (2020 and 2017). Her works are included in the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection and the Bennett Collection, as well as private collections around the world.