NEWS

Helmi Remes has been granted a two-month residency in New York. The residency organization is The Finnish Cultural Institute in New York and the local partner is Urban Glass. The Institute’s independent residency program has been supporting Finnish artists, architects and designers in New York since the 1990’s. More info FCINY and URBAN GLASS.

Helmi Remes was awarded a grant for artists' residencies and mobility from the Finnish Cultural Foundation. “The purpose of the mobility grant is to enable artists to spend time abroad to discover new tools and networks that support their art practise.”

Working group Remes&Grove was awarded a grant for an international exhibition project from Arts Promotion Centre of Finland.

UPCOMING EXHIBITION 2024: Narrative Reflections - Grove & Remes, the Museum of Ancient Glass, ZADAR, CROATIA. More info is coming, meanwhile explore the museum here.

UPCOMING EXHIBITION 2024: Gumbostrand Konst&Form, SIPOO, FINLAND

You can find small series products: MYLLY GLASS in DESIGN KIOSKI in ALA-EMALI, KARKKILA, FINLAND. Open in January Sat-Sun 12-16. More info here. Also open by appointment.

You can purchase art directly sending email: vhremes(at)gmail.com

HELMI REMES

As a contemporary Finnish artist and designer I offer design services and I do custom work in glass. I started in 2010 in the Finnish studio glass industry. My passion is to capture the beauty of glass, but to feed my constant curiosity I work with other materials too.

In addition to my own creative work, I am actively involved in promoting the Finnish studio glass industry.

I work extensively in the creative field. Years of work as a kitchen designer have helped me to understand the properties of materials and to combine creative work with precise design.

Let's make the world a more beautiful place together.

I offer the following services:

Product Design / Public Art / Curatorial services / Exhibition planning / Educational events in the glass industry / Kitchen design

STATEMENT

"The most important thing is that it vibrates." - Exhibition visitor

I seek beauty everywhere, thirsty for experiences and aesthetic pleasures. I look at the world through a magnifying glass; concrete details of minimal size in nature, but also equally human emotional states and micro-expressions. I often work based on experiences and emotions. The starting points of the works may move on dark topics such as the themes of worry, longing, and sorrow but people have described that often dealing with these topics in my work ultimately reflects comfort. I crystallize my view of what silence looks like or how to depict a fleeting sense of satisfaction. I design with the core of emotions, a certain seriousness is reflected in my work.

My main material has been glass. For me, glass is the physical equivalent of sensitivity. The material challenges me to try demanding techniques that I often combine in the same work. Whatever the material, I eliminate the superfluous and I am uncompromising in the expressive power of shape and material. I strive to make abstract objects and sculptures but representational references like mountain landscapes or parts of plants can be found in the works. The most important thing for me is not a direct portrayal but to capture the essence of things that are invisible, even ambiguous. I aim to inspire the viewer to discover beauty in sensitivity.

BIO

Helmi Remes is a Finnish artist and designer who lives and works in Karkkila, Finland. Her work moves between abstract sculptural art or product design, with glass as the prominent material. Remes was born in 1983 in Tampere to a family of artists. The work of her father had a significant impact on her career choice. From an early stage, through the construction of snow sculptures and miniature homes, it was clear that three-dimensional creation, sculpture, and design were fascinating. In early childhood, Remes moved with her family to Kolari, a small village in Finnish Lapland. The time spent in Lapland includes Remes' most important childhood memories, and in her art you can see references to the barren nature of Lapland, the variation of the seasons, as well as the experiences surrounding her father's death.

After graduating as a ceramic and glass designer and artisan in the glass industry, Remes has participated in several different glass technology courses in Europe and Finland. Her work Maa was chosen as Finland's 100th anniversary art glass object, also receiving an honorable mention and a third prize in the same competition for additional works. Remes' works have been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums in Finland and Europe, and her works are represented in the permanent collections of the Murano Glass Museum, the Finnish Glass Museum, the Kiruna Museum of Modern Art, the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation and the Finnish State Art Collections. The city of Riihimäki commissioned a work from Remes for permanent display in a public school building built in Riihimäki, Finland (pictured at right).

In addition to her artistic work, she also does product design work. Remes' work is guided by the desire to emphasize the simplified design language and the properties of the material. Often her works are characterized by the delicate use of a painting-like line, inspired by details or experiences found in nature and imprints of the landscape.

CV