Experienced visual artist Päivi Takala became a professor at the University of the Arts

Takala has worked as a painting lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts since 2014, and Ylenee is now a professor.

Born in 1970, Takala has worked as an artist since the 1990s. He has studied painting not only in Finland but also at the University of the Arts in Berlin. In addition to his work as a lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts, he has been an active visual artist.

Recently, his works have been exhibited at, among others, Ulterior gallery in New York, Cecialia Hilström Gallery in Stockholm, and several times at Galleria Anhava in Helsinki.

Takala’s works are among others in the collections of Helsinki City Museum, Kiasma, Malmö Art Museum, Espoo Museum of Modern Art Emma and Sara Hildén Art Museum. He received the William Thuring Award from the Finnish Art Association in 2009.

At work as a painting artist, Takala has drawn ideas from, among other things, the tradition of photography, the relationship between man and nature, and art history.

Many of his works can be said to be photorealistic, clear and precise – or toying with these features.

Themes of nature and liveliness have been dealt with, for example, in Takala’s paintings of horse-patterned silk scarves, which have been seen in Helsinki’s Anhava, Stockholm and New York.