Emma Ainala's solo exhibition Like a Prayer will be on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki from October 9, 2026, until February 14, 2027.
The vast exhibition presents Ainala’s works from the past ten years, bringing together both new paintings and key works from across her career. According to the artist, the exhibition title Like a Prayer refers both to the act of painting and to viewing artworks. In both situations, an individual is faced with something unknown. It is a moment that calls for letting go of control and trusting intuition.
In her oil paintings, Emma Ainala opens up a seductive and chaotic world before you. The main characters in her works are often girls and women who linger amid luxuriant nature or in enclosed interiors. Some have transformed into spiders or snakes. One bears the features of a sphinx, while others have taken on the form of a centaur.
Ainala’s richly detailed paintings are filled with references to popular culture, fashion and art history. Through her art, she seeks to defend the multifacetedness of life: alongside limiting roles, there can also be joy and possibility. In her works, women are compared to pet animals and blend into the décor around them, yet they also glow brightly in the darkness.
Based in Savonlinna, Emma Ainala (b. 1989, Helsinki) has held solo exhibitions at Finnish art museums in Hyvinkää, Jyväskylä, and Mikkeli. Her work has also featured in numerous exhibitions across Finland and Europe, notably including the prestigious Spring Exhibition at Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen. Ainala’s paintings are held in esteemed collections such as the Saastamoinen Foundation Collection, the Niemistö Collection, and the Mikkeli Art Museum Collection.
