Artist & Curator based in Helsinki, Finland.

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In my artistic practice painting is combined with contemplative meditation exercises and the use of intuitive knowledge.

I primarily create abstract paintings in oil and oil pastel, while also producing small-scale sculptures.

Painting is a journey for me, in which letting go of preconceptions and being fully present in the moment opens space for spontaneous expression and deeper self-knowledge. Meditation practices have been part of my daily life for years, and their influence is visible both in the process and in the outcomes. My works emerge from the interaction of tacit knowledge, sensory perception, significance of not-knowing and the surrounding environments.

  • Artist Satu Metsola's abstract and colourful oil painting named I call You a Bird, 2026

    I Call You a Bird. Oil on canvas, 2026

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's abstract ceramic sculpture which name is Rest as a Bird

    Rest as a Bird. Ceramic sculpture, 2024-25

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's abstract ceramic sculpture called The Goddess of the Two Horizons

    The Goddess of the Two Horizons. Ceramic sculpture, 2024-25

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's abstract oil stick painting Androsia

    Androsia 1 & 2. Sennelier oil stick on board. 2026

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's small sculpture made of clay and beeswax pictured outdoors in Greece

    Unseen Mountain 1. Mixed media sculpture (clay and beeswax), 2026

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's abstract and colourful oil painting

    Sister Moon. Oil on canvas, 2025

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's oil pastel painting from the Series the Island Comes, the Island Goes

    Only a Feather Floating, from the oil pastel series The Island Comes, the Island Goes. 2025

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's abstract oil painting

    My Cat in the Sun thinks like a Mountain. Oil on canvas, 2024.

The Andros Series

The artists of the Amalia Gardens Residency approached the nature of Andros as a living archive of memory, where stone, dried flowers, aromatic plants, and traces of human presence come together to form a new herbarium. During June 2026, Amalia Gardens Non-profit Civil Company launched its third artist residency, entitled “Xiranthoi, Rooted in Stone: The Herbarium of the Aegean”, bringing together seven artists on the island of Andros. Sergej Andreevski (Skopje), Alexis Avlamis (Athens – Kefalonia), Nikos Kaskouras (Athens), Chrysa Liarmakopoulou (Athens – Andros), Satu Metsola (Helsinki), Nikola Pijanmanov (Strumica) and Maria Todeschini (Venice) explored the island’s natural landscape and flora, creating new works of art that reimagine the idea of a herbarium of the future through their research and residency at Amalia Gardens Residency in Vitali, Andros.

Upcoming exhibition:

“Xiranthoi, Rooted in Stone: The Herbarium of the Aegean”

Batsi Cultural Centre, Batsi, Andros, Greece Exhibition Dates: 1–30 AUGUST 2026

https://amaliagardens.gr/en/gallery/2026

  • Finnish Artist Satu Metsola's three abstract oil stick paintings on display outdoors in the Greek island Andros

    Androck I, II & III. Sennelier oil stick on canvas. 60 × 90 cm each. 2026. Photos: George Chiristanidis.

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's two small scale sculptures "Unseen Mountain" series, pictured outdoors in Greek island Andros

    Unseen Mountain 1 & 2. Mixed media (clay, wax). 2026. 20 × 14 × 12 cm / 16 × 15 × 10 cm. Photo: George Chiristanidis.

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's two abstract oil stick paintings. Based on the shiny rocks and stones in the Greek island Andros

    Androsia 1 & 2. Sennelier oil stick on board. 2025. 30 × 24 cm each. Photo: George Chiristanidis.

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's various oil pastel paintings displayed on the table

    The Andros series. Oil pastel paintings.

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola working with her sculpture outdoors

    Working outside with beeswax and pigments

In addition to standing in front of the canvas, I practice meditation in nature. Walking or sitting on a rock, where inanimate things, such as trees, stones, water and wind can create a sense of connection and open a non-verbal dialogue with other species and with the unknown.

In my paintings, nature is always present as an element; it enters by way of reference, as a current, a spring, a stream, the open sea. I am fascinated by nature in its beauty, and I am learning to listen to its alluring, soothing, and unpredictable language. The paintings however are abstract, and there is no need to see or experience them in any particular way.

In my work, the ability to pause, intuitive observation, and disciplined routine are central. I believe that creativity arises when the artist dares to be present with the work without fixed goals and allows intuition to guide the process. In this way, a space is created in which the work can grow freely and begin to guide itself. Intuition lies at the core of my practice: it directs the movement of the hand, the choices, and the decisions that I cannot always explain through reason.

 
  • Satu Metsola's colourful abstract oil painting

    Paintings 2024-2026. I Call You a Bird. Oil on canvas. 2026. 80 × 60 cm

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's colourful, abstract oil painting

    Sister Moon. 2025. Oil on canvas. 80 x 50 cm. Private collection.

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's abstract oil painting

    My Cat in the Sun Thinking Like a Mountain, 2024. Oil on canvas. 70 x 50 cm. Private collection.

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's abstract oil painting

    Late Blooming. 2025. Oil on canvas. 80 x 60 cm.

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's colourful abstract oil painting

    Mountain Mover, 2024. Oil on canvas. 70 x 50 cm. Private collection.

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's abstract colourful oil painting

    This I Have Written to You. Oil on canvas 2024. 81 x 65 cm.

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's abstract yellow oil painting

    Kind of a Comedy. Oil on canvas, 2024. 50x40 cm.

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's abstract colourful oil painting

    In the midst of your sorrow you did not notice how you watered the empty ground. Oil on canvas, 2024. 50x40 cm.

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's abstract oil painting

    I have left. Oil on canvas, 2024. 50x40 cm.

The Island Comes, The Island Goes

The island Comes, The island Goes is a series of oil pastel paintings, which were created in the Korppoo archipelago and in Helsinki. The series does not progress chronologically; rather, it is a weave of experienced connection between humanity and nature, as part of a larger whole, at the threshold of letting go and new beginnings. The series consists of sixteen oil pastel paintings and lyrical texts that have taken shape simultaneously alongside the paintings.

The series started during the EcoSenda residency “Affective Arrangements” on the island of Korppoo, Finland, September 2025. EcoSenda Network: Royal Academy Den Haag, Estonian Academy of Arts, Turku Arts Academy, Academy of Media Arts Cologne.

From the Series The Island Comes, The Island Goes. Oil pastel on Hahnemühle Ingres paper, 24 x 31 cm each. 2025.

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's abstract oil pastel painting from the series The Island Comes the island goes

    Like a black moon you come over me

  • You grow angry at the avian song

  • The mirror that shatters everything

  • The swans leave from me

  • A new ritual

  • The eclipse we did not see

  • Two moons being

  • A pond of two stones

  • Only a feather floating

  • Where do the birds go?

  • The island comes

  • The island goes

  • Let the words wait

Finnish artist Satu Metsola is seen with her artwork titled "Until We Meet Again", showcased during the London Fashion Week official schedule September 2025 opening evening event Fashion Crossover London Presents: The World Gallery on September 21, 2025, in London, England. Photos by Nicky J Sims/Getty Images.

The Shawoman series originated from an earlier body of ceramic figurative sculptures modelled from the nude. The subsequent sculptures were created from memories of the human body, but I have listened to the clay and allowed it to take the form it wanted. The sculptures in this series are meant to be viewed from every angle, as they transform their appearance depending on the viewer's perspective.

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's two small-scale ceramic sculptures from the Shawoman series

    "Shawoman III", 2024, 28 x 12 cm & "Goddess of the Two Horizons", 2024–2025, ceramic sculpture, 20 x 13 cm

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's ceramic sculpture from the Shawoman series

    Goddess of the Two Horizons, 2024–2025, ceramic sculpture, 20 x 13 cm

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's ceramic sculpture from the Shawoman series

    Rest as a Bird. 2024–2025, ceramic sculpture, 20 x 13 cm

  • Rest as a Bird. 2024–2025, ceramic sculpture, 20 x 13 cm

  • Contemporary dance performance FOOTNOTES #3. Coreographer Favela Vera Ortiz, dancer Laura Lehtinen, artworks Satu Metsola at Galleria Dromig in Helsinki. March 2025.

    Contemporary dance performance FOOTNOTES #3. Coreographer Favela Vera Ortiz, dancer Laura Lehtinen, artworks Satu Metsola at Galleria Dromig in Helsinki. March 2025.

  • Installation view, Galleria Dromig Helsinki, March 2025. artist Satu Metsola

    Installation view, Galleria Dromig Helsinki, March 2025

  • Installation view, Galleria Dromig Helsinki, March 2025. Artist Satu Metsola

    Installation view, Galleria Dromig Helsinki, March 2025

  • Installation view, Helsinki, 2024. Young man looking at Satu Metsola's large oil painting.

    Installation view

  • Installation view, Helsinki, 2024. Two people looking at Satu Metsola's abstract oil paintings

    Installation view

  • Finnish artist Satu Metsola's abstract oil painting The Queen's bed

    Oil paintings 2023-2025. The Queen's Bed. 2025. Oil on canvas. 60 x 80 cm

  • Satu Metsola's abstract oil painting artwork

    Until We Meet Again. 2025. Oil on canvas. 50 x 70 cm

  • Satu Metsola's abstract oil painting

    Flowing (small pioneer island). Oil on canvas, 2023. 73 x 92 cm.

  • Satu Metsola's large abstract, yellow oil painting

    Dew, Summernight Song. Oil on canvas, 2024. 110 x 160 cm. Private Collection.

  • The New Ritual. 2025. Oil on canvas 110 x 160 cm

  • From the series Let's Go to the Source: The Eye That Sees and Does Not See II. Oil pastel on paper, 2023. 72 x 104 cm. Artist Satu Metsola

    From the series Let's Go to the Source: The Eye That Sees and Does Not See II. Oil pastel on paper, 2023. 72 x 104 cm.

  • From the series Let's Go to the Source. Oil pastel on paper, 2024. 72 x 104 cm. Artist Satu Metsola

    From the series Let's Go to the Source. Oil pastel on paper, 2024. 72 x 104 cm.

  • From the series Let's Go to the Source. Oil pastel on paper, 2024. 72 x 104 cm.

  • Dual Embrace. Oil on canvas, 2023. 65 x 81 cm.

Please contact me directly for projects or to inquire about purchasing my work.

metsolasatu@gmail.com

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CV: https://www.satumetsola.com/about

Interested in my curatorial work? Learn more here: https://www.satumetsola.com/curatorial

Now:

  • Meilahden Taidepäivystys “Tuntematon”

    24.7. - 9.8.2026 Stogis Galleria, Tukholmankatu 10, 00290 Helsinki, Finland

    Gallery open Fri–Sun 13–18.

Upcoming:

  • “Xiranthoi, Rooted in Stone: The Herbarium of the Aegean”

    Batsi Cultural Centre, Batsi, Andros, Greece

    1. – 30.8. 2026

    Opening: 1 August, 8:00 PM

    Opening Hours: Tuesday–Friday, 7:00–10:00 PM, Saturday & Sunday, 11:00 AM–1:00 PM and 7:00–10:00 PM, Closed on Mondays.

    https://amaliagardens.gr/en/gallery/2026

  • Avoimen taidekoulun Syyssalonki 2026

    21.8. – 6.9. 2026 Opening 20.8. 16-18

    Vanha Talvitie 9, 00580 Helsinki

  • Konstrundan 5.–6.9.2026

    Welcome to visit me in my studio

    https://www.konstrundan.fi/fi/ateljeet/view-152142-3844

Recent shows:

  • Meilahden Taidepäivystys “Luonnoton”, 3.-19.7.2026 Stogis Galleria, Helsinki

  • OLEMUS, Köysiratagalleria, Turku

    27.11.-7.12.2025

  • Fashion Crossover London presents The World gallery - Fashion Show, officially listed under London Fashion Week September, London UK 2025

  • Solo exhibition “Ajattele kuin vuori” Galleria Dromig, Helsinki 3.3.-29.3.2025

  • Solo exhibition “Menkäämme lähteelle”, Galleria Uusi Kipinä, Lahti 15.1.-2.2.2025

Read more:

House of Coco Magazine, June 2024: Art & Balance: Satu Metsola on Curating, Creativity, and Finding Harmony Through Meditation

Featured in the British VOGUE Magazine July 2024, on the page Vogue’s Gallery

Featured in the British VOGUE Magazine June 2024, on the page Vogue’s Gallery

Featured in the British VOGUE Magazine May 2024, on the page Vogue’s Gallery

Korppoo 2025. Photo: Johanna Kiiskinen.

Korppoo 2025. Photo: Johanna Kiiskinen.

We Are. Oil on canvas, 2022. 92 x 73 cm.

We Are. Oil on canvas, 2022. 92 x 73 cm.