NEWS

INFO:

Remes was invited to to give a lecture in the first Design Conference, Aug 14 - 16, 2026, at the Pilchuck Glass Center, USA. In her lecture “Attuning Sensitivity –The Past, Present, and Future of Finnish Glass Design” she presented the phenomenon of the golden age of Finnish glass art and its impact on the work of designers in Finland today.

Remes, together with Slate Grove, taught a week-long intensive course "Express Yourself With Glass" at the new glass center in Nuutajärvi. The course was a beginner's course in glassblowing and aimed at architects, designers, and artists.

Helmi Remes has been awarded a 3-year state artist grant. Arts Promotion Centre Finland’s The Architecture and Design Committee has awarded design artist grants starting in early 2026. 16 applicants received the grant.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS and EVENTS:

NOW: Tacit Knowledge, Prykäri Vinttigalleria, Nuutajärvi, Finland

NOW: Guests of Honour – Celebrating 40 Years of the Rovaniemi Art Museum. Guests of Honour brings together works, memories, and perspectives from the museum’s early years to the present day. Rovaniemi, Finland.

NOW: Art Realm '26 Biennale organized by the Tampere Art Museum, in Tampere, Finland. 13 Jun–16 Aug 2026.

PAST: Summer Fair II, Auran Galleria, Turku, Finland

Helmi Remes_Under the surface I_photo Chris-Tomas Konieczny.jpg

HELMI REMES

Helmi Remes is an artist who lives and works in Karkkila, Finland. She started in 2010 working as an artist and designer, currently focusing in sculpture.

Her works are regularly exhibited in international museums and galleries.

In addition to her own creative work, she is actively involved in promoting the Finnish studio glass industry.

The world is beautiful

STATEMENT

For me, glass is the physical equivalent of sensitivity. I make abstract art where I channel my feelings and lived experiences. My work may begin with the feeling of sorrow or longing, but the result can reflect comfort and serenity. Glass is an ideal material to express emotional contrasts, because glass itself is both warm and cold, and fragile and enduring.

My artistic expression is minimalist and delicate. I work primarily with clear and white glass or with muted tones. The rugged nature of Northern Finland is strongly present in my art, from the emotional landscape shaped by my father’s early death to the quiet, raw beauty of the Arctic wilderness.

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.

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