Emmi Kallio: The Storm

Emmi Kallio’s exhibition at the Kimmo Pyykkö Art Museum provides a unique compilation of her works, including a large site-specific mural, new acrylic paintings hung as an installation and a collection of paper-based works comprising both prints and sketches. A selection of works from exhibitions over the last few years provides context for the exhibition as a whole. The exhibition is being curated by Veikko Halmetoja.

Emmi Kallio is a visual artist whose paintings seem to represent abstract expressionism at first glance. Gradually, they start to reveal representational elements, snippets of stories and recognisable details. Although Kallio does not represent abstract expressionism in the purest sense, her kinship to the movement is evident. She paints with her whole self. The movements and physical dimensions of the artist are visible in the artworks. Fierce brush strokes, gushes of paint and vivid colours make for rich and delicious art.

In a way, the name of the exhibition, Storm, summarises the themes of Emmi Kallio’s works. In recent years, Kallio has painted a lot of powerful emotions, such as love as seen through opera. She is intrigued by extremities. Kallio writes that she finds the extreme weather conditions brought about by climate change to be frightening. ”There is something ominous in the air, literally. When it rains, it rains too much to seem normal. When a season changes, it changes too soon, too late or too abruptly. The warmth of the sun carries a strange burning sensation, and a heatwave comes at a time when your inner clock is telling you to start wearing sweaters. Something is seriously wrong. Everything is changing, everything is getting a bit strange.”

In addition to concrete phenomena, Storm is also a metaphor for surges of emotions, crises of life, creativity and social upheaval. On the other hand, it can symbolise renewal and purification – washing away the old and beginning something new. The themes of the exhibition can also be read though the William Shakespeare play of a related name, The Tempest. Kallio addresses the relationship between illusion and reality, the force of manipulation, power and the use of power. The same themes are present in her earlier, opera-themed works.

Emmi Kallio graduated as a visual artist in Tampere. She has held several private exhibitions in Helsinki. Her works have been exhibited in the Pirkanmaa region at Gallery Saskia, Rajatila Gallery as well as the Finlayson Art Area summer exhibition and the Mänttä Art Festival.

The exhibition takes place on the 1st and 2nd floor at the Kimmo Pyykkö Art Museum from 13 June 2026 until 10 January 2027.