Kaarina Kaikkonen

Layers of Life, 2025
Upcycled men's shirts,

Layers of Life explores time, memory, and the quiet accumulation of human experiences. Constructed from worn garments that once touched individual bodies, the stratified forms evoke a dense landscape of personal histories and unspoken memories, and the shared history embedded in everyday textiles.

Dialogues (Diálogos), 2013
Site-specific installation made of approx. 2,000 donated shirts and blouses
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (MNBA), Santiago, Chile, 2013
Curators: Julia P. Herzberg, María José Bunster

Cascading from the glass cupola and galleries of the National Museum of Fine Arts, Dialogues was created from nearly 2,000 garments donated by local residents in Santiago. Presented alongside its companion installation Traces at the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, the work transforms personal, everyday clothing into a monumental collective presence—fostering a quiet conversation between architecture, memory, and shared human history.

Unfolding Hope, 2025
Upcycled men's shirts

Unfolding Hope captures a quiet, organic movement toward light and renewal. Constructed from worn garments that carry traces of past lives, the work opens up in space like a unfolding blossom or breath—suggesting that hope is not sudden, but something that emerges gently through resilience and connection.

And The Sea Was Empty , 1998

”And The Sea Was Empty” (Ja meri oli tyhjä), 1998
Part of the Sara Hildén Art Museum Collection, Tampere, Finland

A monumental wall installation composed entirely of second-hand men's shirts.

Seascapes and references to emptiness are recurring elements in my practice, deeply intertwined with personal loss, longing, and the search for meaning beyond surface realities. In this work, the rows of white and light-toned shirts cascade toward a horizon line like a vast, quiet ocean. As the physical fabrics carry the subtle outlines, memories, and shadows of anonymous lives, they serve as a reminder of our fleeting existence

The Longing of A Wild Rose, 2024

The Longing of a Wild Rose (Villin ruusun kaipaus) is a soft sculpture and wall installation by Finnish artist Kaarina Kaikkonen. Crafted from upcycled men's shirts, the 170 × 220 × 21 cm piece transforms everyday textiles into organic forms that explore themes of memory, identity, and human connection. It is part of the collection at the Uppsala Art Museum and has been featured in exhibitions like The Tears Shed Because of You at Galerie Forsblom

Kaarina Kaikkonen's Way, 2000, large-scale installation made from men's jackets at Helsinki Cathedral.

Shirts donated by people in Mänttä. Curator Minna Joenniemi

https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000002739536.html

My Outline, 2017
Site-specific installation made of Finnish toilet paper
Uppsala Art Museum, Uppsala, Sweden, 2017 (first version presented in Fiskars, Finland, 1997)

Constructed entirely from unravelled rolls of ordinary Finnish toilet paper, My Outline transforms one of the most everyday, fragile materials into a monumental, light-filled sculptural wave. Suspended in space, the translucent paper lines catch the slightest movement of air—exploring vulnerability, transience, and the delicate boundary between strength and fragility.

Höyhen (Feather), 2022
Steel and stone, height approx. 4 m
Matti Nykänen Memorial, Köyhälampi, Jyväskylä, Finland

Created in honour of legendary Finnish Olympic ski jumper Matti Nykänen, Höyhen (Feather) departs from traditional figurative monuments to capture the essence of flight, lightness, and human vulnerability. Composed of sleek, ski-like steel elements rising along a graceful curve toward the sky beside the water, the sculpture evokes both the trajectory of a ski jump and the fragility of a feather carried by the wind.

I Can't Help It, 2019
Upcycled men's shirts, mixed media

Shaped from compressed and folded shirts, I Can't Help It captures an irresistible, organic urge to grow, reach out, and take form. The intimate sculpture speaks to human vulnerability and emotional honesty—acknowledging feelings and impulses that rise naturally from within, beyond our control.

Forwards (Eteneminen), 2009
Cast aluminium and Perniö red granite

Permanent public artwork, Hanaholmen – Swedish-Finnish Cultural Centre, Espoo, Finland
Commissioned by the State Art Deposit Collection

Commissioned to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the separation of Finland and Sweden in 1809, Proceed (Eteneminen) features cast-aluminium jacket figures climbing across red granite boulders from the shoreline toward the cultural centre.

A commission by Stiftung Nantesbuch, Germany. Curator Andrea Firmenich

https://stiftung-nantesbuch.de/kunst/kunst-vor-ort/kaikkonen

Sculpture made of used bags and luggage.

Travelling international exhibition United States of Europe. Curators Johanna Suo and Anna Bitkina

https://transforma.org.pt/en/?/historial/doismiledoze/united-states-europe/artistas-kaarina-kaikkonen

Installation made of old shirts from Liverpool people.

Installation made of old Finnish skis from the decades of Finland independency.. Tampere, Finland.

https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-8057074