Iiris Riihimäki is a visual artist working with painting and installation.

Mixing elements from Balto-Finnic mythologies with mundanely nostalgic spaces and objects from her surroundings, her work taps into themes of home and safety, human impact on flora and fauna, and the tensions in relationships, love and longing.

To her studio she brings old towels, toys, photographs, insects and old zoology books, that make their way into her work. By exploring the spiritual and emotional significance humans have given to their surroundings throughout history, and by connecting those to her own intimate memories, Riihimäki allows her work to establish its own imaginative realm. Her paintings can come together in installations, referencing the world of children's play, set design and interiority. She works from a material, hands on base. This means working from a place of given knowledge and free association, rather than theoretical and analytical intelligence. The urge to do this stems from her research in Finno-Ugric indigenous knowledge, intuition and living in connection with one’s surroundings. Using traditional materials such as rabbit skin glue, charcoal, pigments and oil, she conveys her ideas on canvas, wood and found textile.