Glass artist Paula Pääkkönen: “Working with colorful glass helped me after depression”

First, Paula Pääkkönen became a glassblower and mastered glass-sculpting techniques. Then, she began creating her own independent artworks.

Looking at Paula Pääkkönen’s glass ice cream sculptures will make your mouth water. The deliciously colorful popsicles seem to be waiting for someone to eat them, and perhaps someone has already taken a bite. Some are even partially melted.

“You can see the contrast in my work: cold ice cream, hot glass. Then again, molten glass is hard to control—somewhat like ice cream melting in a child’s hands on a hot summer day.”

The Assorted Flavors series includes popsicles in various colors.

A return to childhood, to summers and colors happened through a crisis. In the last decade, Paula Pääkkönen fell into depression. Her life became dark and joyless.

“Working with colorful glass helped. I began to recall summertime childhood memories: my cousin and I would walk down a gravel road from the store back home, popsicles in hand. My personal favorite was raspberry-flavored.”

Banana from the Assorted Flavors series.

Living in a big city paved this country girl’s path toward becoming a glass artist—but in a different way than you might think. After high school, she worked as an au pair in Paris and realized she longed to be “alone in the middle of the forest, even if it just meant throwing pottery on a wheel.”

Savonia University of Applied Sciences, known as Kuopio’s Design Academy, seemed to offer an opportunity.

“That was where I first came into contact with glass. I fell in love. After two years of study, I specialized in glass. Finally, I completed a two-year apprenticeship as a glassblower in the Nuutajärvi glass village.”

Art entered Pääkkönen’s life through the material, not the other way around. She first became a glassblower and mastered glass-sculpting techniques, and only then began making her own independent artworks. Her pieces have since been showcased in prestigious art museums. In Venice, her works were recently featured at the Homo Faber exhibition of artisanal art.

Mini vase Summer.

Now, something new is on the horizon. With a grant from the Cultural Foundation, Pääkkönen is expanding her artistic expression. This past summer, a prototype of her new series was already on display at the Serlachius Museum.

“I guess you could call my works pop art. In these heart vases, it’s as though Bugs Bunny’s heart is jumping out of his chest. The name is Love At First Sight. I’m a chronic romantic myself,” the artist adds with a laugh.

There are also purple, pink, and red versions of the heart vase.

Pääkkönen is also exploring ways to combine wood with glass. She has just acquired a chainsaw.

Glassblowing is teamwork, where glassblower-artist Pääkkönen and her assistants follow a precisely choreographed routine. To an observer, it looks like a dance.

“It’s very physical. Working in a hot glass studio requires good fitness.”

Photos: Hannakaisa Pekkala

Pilvilinna glass pieces.