Jaana Erkkilä-Hill : Encountering the Invisible

February 13- April 16, 2025

Opening Reception: Thursday, February 13th, 7:00-8:30 pm

Artist talk beginning at 7:20 pm

The Finlandia Art Gallery is pleased to present Encountering the Invisible, an exhibition by Finnish artist Jaana Erkkilä-Hill. The exhibit will be on display from February 13 to April 16, 2025, at the Finlandia Art Gallery, located in the Finnish American Heritage Center in Hancock.

A reception for the artist will take place on Thursday, February 13, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., with an artist talk beginning at 7:20 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Jaana Erkkilä-Hill creates artwork that explores spiritual and religious experiences, looking beyond culture, time, and circumstance to access a deeply felt connection to the spiritual. She views her creative practice as a means of inquiry, philosophically examining what is seen and unseen. Drawing from art history, nature, and society, Erkkilä-Hill intertwines the everyday and the sacred, the visible and the invisible, in search of what lies at the core.

With over thirty years of artistic practice, Erkkilä-Hill specializes in printmaking, particularly woodcuts and linocuts. She has mastered the process of layering color and imagery to create depth and meaning.

“Although my work is rooted in spirituality and nature mysticism, color is a central theme,” says Erkkilä-Hill. Her extensive technical skills, combined with keen observation, have led her to develop interactive color-layering methods that enhance the poetic atmosphere and storytelling within her images.

In addition to her work as a visual artist, Erkkilä-Hill is a researcher and professor of visual arts at the University of Lapland in Finland. Her scholarly work focuses on artist pedagogy, examining how actively practicing artists teach art. She studies how experiential knowledge from an artist’s personal practice is transferred to students, shaping their own artistic growth.

Erkkilä-Hill’s work has been exhibited extensively in solo exhibitions across Finland and in numerous group exhibitions throughout Europe. Her artwork is included in the collections of:

• Helsinki Art Museum
• The Art Collection of the Finnish State
• Jenny and Antti Wihuri Collection
• K.H. Renlund Art Museum
• Various city and corporate art collections

Encountering the Invisible will be on display through April 16, 2025.

Gallery Information

Finlandia Art Gallery, Finnish American Heritage Center, 435 Quincy Street, Hancock, MI
Contact: (906) 487-7500 | gallery@finlandiafoundation.org
Hours: Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.