Mia B Seppälä

I am Mia Seppälä, a Finnish visual artist, researcher and a teacher working interdisciplinary in photography, printmaking, performance, and moving image. My works often explore phenomena related to perception and presentation, as well as the interaction between conceptual and physical space. My art is often site-specific, with key themes including the intersubjectivity of art, experience, the use of public space, and the reinterpretation of established structures and methods in art. I have been actively involved in public projects, particularly highlighting the experimental arrangements in an eastern Helsinki shopping center from 2019 to 2022. During this time, I developed interactive art practices that engaged non-traditional art audiences. My works also explore the paradoxes of accessibility in images and art—how the interpretation of images changes due to circumstances, interfaces, or even the inability to see the image at all. This theme was central to my work "Alt Text" (2022), which was exhibited in the "Paradoxes of Photography" exhibition at the Finnish Museum of Photography in 2022. Recently, I have been involved in the interdisciplinary research project "The Narratives of Finland," which aims to provide insights into the narratives conveyed by Finnish historical culture and how an increasingly diverse society assigns meaning to them. The project focuses particularly on the aesthetic aspects of historical culture, exploring the relationship between artistic expression of Finnish history and both institutional and academic history. My contribution involved the conceptualization and creation of a socially engaged art piece, in collaboration with 7th-grade students from Puistopolku School in Helsinki and 8th-grade students from Kilonpuisto School in Espoo. The project entailed the design and realization of new honorific badges, along with museum visits and workshops over the course of two years. The finished badges were exhibited at the Mannerheim Museum in 2023 and at the Gallen-Kallela Museum in 2024, where the collection is also available in the museum’s online archive. Teaching experience: Since 2021, I have been working as a part-time teacher at the Academy of Fine Arts in Printmaking study area. My responsibilities include planning and teaching BA seminars on visual culture and artistic practice, as well as supervising students' independent artistic work at both BA and MA levels. In my teaching, I emphasize the consideration of site-specificity in the artistic process, the interaction between perception and presentation, and the reinterpretation of artistic structures and methods. My areas of expertise include photography, printmaking techniques, moving image, performance, and the integration of theory and art within the framework of artistic research. For example, my course "Natural Phenomena as Materials for Mediating Techniques" (2023) focused on translating natural phenomena into visual form and included a final exhibition showcasing the process at Kaiku Gallery. Additionally, I have coordinated and served as the responsible teacher for the thematic theory courses titled "Näkökulmia taiteelliseen tutkimukseen" (2022) and "Perspectives on Artistic Research" (2023) while working as a doctoral candidate in the Academy of Fine Arts doctoral program from 2021 to 2023. My most recent work related to artistic research, "Literary Resonance," engages with the themes of freedom of expression and cultural memory, where words extracted from their original context serve as building blocks for a new vocabulary. The work establishes connections between literature and visual art without a clear hierarchy, leaving open the question of which is primary: the word or the image. It was exhibited in the show "Claws and Connections – All the World’s Senses" at the Academy of Fine Arts in 2024. I am currently finalizing my doctoral degree at the Academy of Fine Arts, where I obtained my Master’s degree in visual arts in 2017. I completed my pedagogical studies in university pedagogy (60 ECTS) at the University of Tampere in 2024. Recent Publications for Professional Audiences: 2024: "Taiteen ja Teorian Still Life: Vastakkainasettelusta Kokeilullisuuteen.” In the anthology 10 Years of University Pedagogy in the Arts, edited by Heli Kauppila & Leena Rouhiainen. Helsinki: University of the Arts. (To be published in autumn 2024). 2023: "Strategian Sisäistäminen / Internalizing the Strategy." Ruukku – Studies in Artistic Research, Issue #18 Making Artistic Research Public. (Peer-reviewed). 2022: "Self-portrait, Addition and Erasure." In Artist’s Workbook – Teaching Visual Arts, edited by Denize Ziegler and Pilvi Porkola. University of the Arts 2022.

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