Veera Kopsala: Vulgar and Wild

VEERA KOPSALA
Vulgar and Wild
11.04.-18.05.2025

In this series of reliefs, Veera Kopsala depicts women through the lens of their own desires. The work invites viewers to reflect on the assumptions we carry when looking at women of different ages and body types. Why, for instance, is the sexually active older woman so rarely represented in visual art? What emotions or thoughts arise when confronted with such a portrayal?
The exhibition makes women’s embodied experiences both visible and tangible, while simultaneously exposing the deeply ingrained cultural assumptions that shape how they are seen.

All the works in the exhibition are carved and painted on wood. Rich textures, three-dimensionality, the vitality of the material, and varied sculpting techniques play just as important a role as the subject matter itself. In these pieces, sculptural methods traditionally associated with masculinity are used to depict women. Kopsala works the surfaces with chisels, an angle grinder, and an electric saw, combining these with painting in acrylics and watercolors.

Veera Kopsala (b. 1991, Nurmijärvi) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts at the University of the Arts Helsinki in 2022. Since then, she has held five solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group shows. In 2025, her work will be exhibited not only at Porvoo Art Hall but also at Kritiikkigalleria in Turku, Taidelaitos Haihatus in Joutsa, and as part of a guest performance of Anna-Liisa at Espoo Theatre.

Kopsala’s works are included in collections such as those of the Finnish Art Society and the Finnish Association for Rural Culture and Education. She is currently working with the support of a two-year grant from the Kone Foundation.

This exhibition has been supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Kone Foundation, the Finnish Heritage Agency, and Versowood.