KATJA HÄRKKI – BIO

Katja Härkki (born in 1969, Helsinki) is a visual artist and painter who lives and works in Lahti.

She graduated as a designer and master of arts in 1997 from the University of Art and Design Helsinki, specializing in the clothing and costume design program. In 2014, she completed her studies as a visual artist at the Lahti Art Institute. In 2024, Härkki graduated from Turku University of Applied Sciences with a master's degree in fine arts (YAMK), focusing her thesis on the development of artistic practice: Developing artistry by utilizing an audience survey related to the exhibition.

Härkki has held numerous solo exhibitions and participated in many group exhibitions. She is a member of the Finnish Painters' Union, as well as the Tampere and Lahti Artist Associations.

The central themes of Härkki's paintings are humanity, the struggles, flourishing, and decay of the human mind and body, with a touch of decadence. She explores these themes in her artwork about her sensory and experiential world as a woman in this time and world and her spiritual and physical connection to nature, her environment, and other people. Through her paintings, Härkki conveys her own experiences and emotions to the viewers, thus participating in shaping the world and others' experiences. In this way, she brings both her own and the viewer's emotions to a conscious level, where they can be processed. For Härkki, creating and presenting art is a form of play, involving reflection and communication, as happiness always stems from connection with others.