Inka Kivalo (b.1956) is a Finnish textile artist. She mainly works with pictorial wall hangings to create painting like tapestries that are windows into her colourful worlds. Besides she create textile sculptures with motifs like animals, human figures and portraits, and weaves scarfs and embroiders big brooches.
After her MA studies at the University of Art and Design Helsinki, Inka Kivalo went on to showcase her work internationally and in Finland. Today, her work can be found in several art collections around the world.
In 2000 Inka Kivalo was nominated as the Finnish Textile Artist Of The Year and in 2019 she won the Nordic Award in Textile. She has also designed textile prints in Marimekko, and has taught experimental handicraft, jacquard weaving and environmental planning at the University of Art and Design Helsinki.
Contact information:
inkakivalo@gmail.com
CV
Inka Kivalo (b.1956)
Education:
1985 Textile art (MA) University of Industrial Arts Helsinki
Activity:
1985-1990 Printed textile collections for Marimekko Ltd
1992-2008 Teacher at University of Industrial Arts, textile art, jacquard weaving, experimental handicraft
1985- own atelier in Helsinki
Awards:
2019 The Nordic Award in Textile, Fokus-foundation
2018 The Maire Gullichsen Award
2018 Supplementary State Artist Pension
2017 The Iris Award, The Finnish Colour Association
2000 Textile Artist of the Year
Collections:
The State of Finland, Design Museum, Nordea, Fokus-foundation, The European Parliament,
The City of Helsinki, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, private foundations and collections
Commissions:
2021-2022 embroidered relief, AX-hotell, Jätkäsaari, Helsinki, Finland
2004-2005 altarpiece and ecclesiastical textiles, Lintuvaara church, Espoo, Finland
2002 two tapestries, Finlandsinstitut, Stockholm, Sweden
2001-2002 four tapestries, Riistavuori nursing home, Helsinki, Finland
1992 decorated urn, Alessi
Solo exhibition (selected):
2020 Personea, Alvar Aalto Museum, Jyväskylä, Finland
2019-2020 Abecita Art Museum, Borås, Sverige
2018 Tapestry, The Music House, Helsinki, Finland
2014 Kudos, Galleri Katariina, Helsinki, Finland
2008 Forum Box, Helsinki, Finland
2003 Finlandsinstitutet, Stockholm, Sverige
2000 Design Museum, Helsinki
Group exhibition (selected):
2023 Kuvan kutojat, Rovaniemi Art Museum, Rovaniemi, Finland
2020-2023 Woven Beauty, Modern Finnish Ryijy Textiles from the Tuomas Sopanen Collection, Kunsthalle Helsinki, Finland and The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan
2022 Punainen lanka, Saarijärven museo, Saarijärvi, Finland
2020-2022 Artapestry6, KunstCentret Silkeborg Bad, Denmark, further venues in Europe
2020 The Woven Image-modern tapestry in Finland, Craft Museum of Finland, Jyväskylä, Finland
2018 Verynice, Bloodygood, Gallerie Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland
2018 CHART Design 2018 (Lokal) Köpenhagen, Denmark
2018 Dansk Gobelinkunst, Rundetaarn, Köpenhagen , Denmark
2017 ME: A Portrait in Time, Kunsthalle Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
2012-2014 Artapestry3, KunstCentret Silkeborg Bad, Denmark, further venues in Europe
2013 To be with someone I like, with Kati Tuominen-Niittylä, Old Warehouses, Joensuu, Finland
2013 KUI?, 9.Triennial of Textile Art, Wäinö Aaltonen museum, Turku, Finland
2009 Dansk Gobelin, Johannes Larsen Museet and Kroborg Casle, Denmark
2007 The international Art and Desig Fair, New York, USA
2006 Hands and all, 7th Finnish textile triennial, Amos Anderson Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland
2002-2003 Fiberscapes, with Aino Faven and Katri Haahti, Finnish Embassy in Washington DC, USA, City Hall Gallery, Ottawa, Canada
2001 10th International Triennial of Tapestry, Lodz, Polen
My Counterbalance Looms