MASTER / THE YOUNG / PARTY / CONSTRUCTION
Karin Widnäs, better than anyone, knows that in a small country like Finland, a creator must be versatile and open to new ideas. Her fifty years of working within ceramics reflect the power of renewal. This year marks the eighth summer exhibition at the KWUM Museum, and in this anniversary year the museum is full of surprises: the display cases have been taken over! Karin’s children and grandchildren have spent time in her studio since they little, constantly underfoot as she worked. The pieces emerging from the depths of the kiln were always worth waiting for. It is hardly surprising, then, that the younger generation wanted to try their own hand at it.
THE YOUNG
The whole family wanted — in fact insisted — on being represented in this anniversary exhibition. At the age of twelve, Karin’s son Dick Weckström designed the SPICE JARS featured in the exhibition. His wife Sirpa designed LEGO-like CANDLESTICKS. Their daughter Kia created sauna accessories decorated with ceramics, including SAUNA THERMOMETERS. Their son Kevin presents his interpretations of FANTASY FIGURES.
The son of Karin’s other son Michael, Alec — an electrician and accomplished F1H2O powerboat racer — has created several versions of a ceramic sculpture of the human arm. The expressive, extended hands hold light bulbs and intertwine to support a designer table. On the wall are Kevin’s dark-toned relief SALMIAKKI and Alec’s green-hued WAVES.
THE PARTY
Karin’s own work is also on display, including new designs. The party table has been set for a refined meal using Karin’s sixteen-piece Savoy-themed dinner service. It was created in the anniversary year 2012, when Helsinki was the World Design Capital and Restaurant Savoy celebrated its 75th anniversary. So far, this represents only three generations. The museum’s upper floor still awaits.
THE MASTER
In the upstairs gallery space stands the largest of the display cases. It reflects the life’s work of the family matriarch, Olga Widnäs (1914–1994). Born in Saint Petersburg and later settled in Helsinki, this elegant cosmopolitan woman was one of the leading forces in Finnish porcelain painting for decades. She completed her master’s qualification in 1964. Widnäs refined her skills through study trips to Germany and the rest of the continental Europe, and those influences are reflected in the masterful works displayed in the case from across the years.
As raising the professional standard of porcelain painters was especially close to her heart, Widnäs founded a porcelain painting school on Munkkiniemen Puistotie in Helsinki in 1956. The studio also organized the first porcelain painting school for children. Karin, the most enthusiastic of the children, helped in the shop from an early age. Eight-year-old Karin would go there after school to learn and to meet the customers and naturally became fascinated by porcelain painting. Her mother gave her complete freedom in designing her work and encouraged her in every way. Karin was especially inspired by her mother’s exceptional craftsmanship, so much so that she already knew where she wanted to study: the decorative arts program at the Ateneum. But the program had been discontinued. Karin soon found a new direction: ceramics.
CONSTRUCTION
A groundbreaking vision has defined Widnäs’ career: combining ceramics, brick, tile, and architecture. Ceramics belong not only on walls but even within the structures of the city itself. One example is Kimono, the ceramic cladding created for the chimney of the new filtration system at a wastewater pumping station in Turku. The exhibition also features a variety of wall surfaces and reliefs. During the renovation of Helsinki’s Yrjönkatu Swimming Hall, the small pool was fitted with crystal-glazed tiles made by Karin, matching tiles that had once been manufactured in the Czech Republic. One example of these glazes is the relief Four Seasons, featured in KWUM’s summer exhibition.
In 2024, Karin Widnäs collaborated with another artist for the first time. At the age of ninety, goldsmith and sculptor Björn Weckström wanted to explore the possibilities of ceramics. Both artists were enchanted by the final results: delicate small golden objects and figures created using Karin’s own GOLDEN RAKU technique. Equally remarkable is their shared enthusiasm for life and their constant curiosity for new techniques and possibilities.
The Baltic Sea, with all its challenges, has been an endless source of inspiration for Karin Widnäs. The Magic Islands collection of wish boxes continually takes on new forms and glazes. Pointing toward the future is the John Nurminen Foundation’s work to protect the Baltic Sea. Bolts anchored into the bedrock help secure oil-spill containment booms and prevent environmental damage.
Photo: Alec Widnäs
