Siru Tuomisto & Viivi Varesvuo

Wed 22.1.2025

Cakes and Creatures

In our joint exhibition, we aim to showcase our intuitive approach to creating art, seeking to bring joy and positivity to life and everyday moments through art and creativity. The characters we create, using very different methods and materials, unexpectedly find friendship and resonance in each other’s presence.

Tuomisto’s charming and even playful, cheerful, and unique characters begin to, in a way, communicate with the perhaps slightly more earthy and sometimes bolder personalities of Varesvuo’s works. Despite their differences, these distinct pieces find a delightful harmony that naturally invites the viewer to explore the collection as a whole. Through this exploration, one can discover a vast array of figures, individuals, characters, and personalities, as well as abstract forms that tell their own unique stories. Some of the works also serve as functional art pieces, such as candle holders.

The cake, as a theme and form, is joyful, festive, and positive to us. When planning the presentation for OHO Gallery, we found it natural to combine our works both in a gallery-like manner on pedestals and in a more free-flowing arrangement across the various layers of a cake on another podium. The figures on the pedestals observe the festive scene from a prime vantage point. The cake is adorned with jubilant expressions, peculiar textures, round characters, and an eclectic congregation of whimsical figures.

Life deserves joy! Lightness, silliness, playfulness, and abundance.

Siru Tuomisto, founder and creative director of Studio Siru, is a multidisciplinary artist-designer. Born in Finland, she has spent 19 years living in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Italy. While working in the Hollywood film industry, she became convinced that anything can be built, taken apart, and rebuilt again.

Her problem-solving skills and talent for multilayered design are evident in the creative solutions found in her works. She holds a degree in interior architecture from UCLA, California.

Tuomisto’s works have recently been showcased at Helsinki Design Week as well as in Australia, including at the Finnish Embassy, Sanctuary Canberra in Narrabundah, and Olsen Gallery in Sydney.

In October, Tuomisto will participate in the Florence Biennale.

www.studiosiru.com

@siru.tuomisto

Tuomisto’s studio is located on Tehtaankatu in Helsinki.

Viivi Varesvuo is a Helsinki-Fiskars-based visual artist whose artistic expression has evolved through graphic art, painting, and ceramic sculptures. She studied in Paris from 1988 to 1991 and at the Lahti Art Institute from 1994 to 1996. Additionally, she graduated from Pekka Halonen Academy in 2020. Currently, Varesvuo works in the Savio Artist Community studios in Kerava, focusing on sculpture. Nearly four months spent working with ceramics in Iceland have left a strong mark on the form language of her works.

As an artist, Varesvuo is inspired by natural surfaces and various structures. Her ceramic, clay, and bronze cast sculptures take the form of delicate and evocative animal figures, inviting the viewer to explore them more closely. Even in her more abstract sculptures, the power and impact of nature are equally perceptible.

Varesvuo has held numerous solo exhibitions and participated in several group exhibitions over the years in Finland. She has also been an active founding member of the Fiskars Cooperative Onoma. Varesvuo’s works are held in both private and public collections not only in the Nordic countries but also in countries such as the USA, France, South Korea, and Italy. Currently, her works are also on display in the KWUM Ceramic Museum’s exhibition of domestic red clay.

www.viivivaresvuo.fi

@viivivaresvuoart

ARTWORK