Sanna Elina Ahtisaari

Sanna Elina Ahtisaari is a Finnish visual artist working across photography, installation and moving image. Born in Iisalmi, Finland, she lived in Paris between 1995 and 2012 before returning to Helsinki, where she currently lives and works.

For over two decades, her practice has explored themes of intergenerational memory, the body, nature and ritual, often through long-term photographic observation of her inner circle and surrounding landscapes. Moving between intimate documentary language and poetic visual forms, her works create spaces where personal histories intersect with ecological consciousness.

Her work has been exhibited in Finland and internationally, including at OFR, Design Museum Helsinki, Maison de l’Architecture and Galerie Patricia Dorfmann in Paris.

Her works are included in the collections of Design Museum Helsinki, Palais Galliera, Agnes b. and the City of Iisalmi.

Alongside her artistic practice, Ahtisaari has worked with publishers, musicians, designers, writers and cultural institutions internationally. Her recent work increasingly focuses on the relationship between humans and nature, ecological memory, feminine lineage and the sacred dimensions of everyday life.

Her forthcoming photobook Esiäidit continues this long-term exploration of matrilineal memory, ritual and belonging.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2025 — Portraits of Saheli Women, OFR, Paris
2025 — Esiäidit, landscape installation, Konnevesi Museum, Finland
2023 — Punojat, Kamp Galleria, Helsinki
2023 — Sunchase, design and photographic installation, Helsinki
2021 — Pyhät Matot, painting installation, Lapinlahti, Helsinki
2021 — Kasken Kierto, photographic landscape sculpture, Lapinlahti, Helsinki
2020 — You Are Nature, photographic landscape sculpture, Moisio, Finland
2020 — Land of Love, plant-dye installation, Garden Room, Helsinki
2019 — Monoliitti, installation, Retretti, Punkaharju
2019–2021 — Lehto, photographic landscape sculpture, Punkaharju
2019 — River Flows, exhibition and book launch, OFR, Paris
2018 — You Are Nature, installation, Maison de l’Architecture, Paris
2018 — Holy Tree, installation, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris
2017 — Kasken Kierto, photographic landscape installation, Vallisaari, Finland
2016 — Life & Existence, installation, OFR, Paris
2015 — Kasken Kierto, Eemil Halonen Art Museum, Finland
2013 — Kotatakki, installation, Hyvinkää Art Museum, Finland
2012 — Kotatakki, Design Museum Helsinki, Helsinki
2010 — There Is a Forest in All of Us, installation, Agnes b., Paris
2009 — Floating Density, multimedia installation, OFR, Paris

PUBLICATIONS

Esiäidit / Aïeules / Ancestress (forthcoming)
River Flows (2019), OFR Editions, Paris
The Woolsock People (2009), OFR Editions, Paris

COLLECTIONS

Design Museum Helsinki
Palais Galliera
Agnes b. Collection
City of Iisalmi Art Collection

SELECTED PRESS

Helsingin Sanomat
Kuukausiliite
Milk Magazine
Hunger Magazine
Madame Figaro
Libération
Image
Elle
Under the Influence Magazine

CONTACT

For exhibition inquiries, collaborations, editions and publications:

sannaelina@ahtisaari.net

Instagram: @sannaelinaahtisaari