Virve Lilja

Visual artist, graphic artist Virve Lilja (b. 1968 Helsinki) lives in Kangasala and works in Tampere. She has a long career as an artist: Lilja has held solo exhibitions every year and has participated in numerous group exhibitions both in Finland and abroad. Her works are in several Finnish and international collections, including the Sundsvall Museum, the Saastamoinen and Vihuri Foundations, the Kiasma and State Art Collections, the Emma Finlandia Collection and the Amos Anderson, Oulu, Hämeenlinna and Kemi Art Museums. Public works include the large-scale wall piece Sointu on the Ratina firewall in Tampere.

Virve Lilija’s art is somewhere between abstract and representational:
“The majority of my works are executed by painting or using various methods of printmaking. I am interested in the interface between the abstract and the figurative and in the perception of the image. The ambiguity of my work is a richness. The world around me and my personal life influence my work at any given time. I like to depict the human being, sometimes as a mere trace, sometimes more representational. The passage of time, birth and death and growth are eternal universal themes that I return to again and again. The process of making art itself is important to me; I try to organize the questions that are on my mind into a clearer form for myself. My output ranges from miniature prints to monumental sized public works.”