Pia Tikkanen is a Paris-based sculptor and designer.
Born in Helsinki, Finland, Pia spent her childhood on many continents. In 1987 she settled in Paris to study fashion design and has lived and worked there since as a surface designer in textiles and interiors.
Having a carpenter for a grandfather and spending summers in Finland at her family’s lake-side cabin, surrounded by birch trees made wood a familiar material for Pia. Mandatory woodworking classes in primary school also enhanced her interest in pursuing the possibilities of this medium.
After 25 years of creating 2D graphic designs commercially, Pia felt the need to create abstract volumes, hand-crafting a piece from beginning to end. And what medium could come more naturally to a Finn than wood? She began taking woodworking and wood sculpture classes in 2017. She has since discovered the freedom, as well as the constraints, that this material has to offer.
Ash from the Paris area and Finnish birch are her essences of choice. Their hard white wood with graphic veins inspire the forms of her sculpture. With her graphic designer’s fascination for contrasts, she highlights the shapes with colors, like Klein blue and cool pastels, not often associated with wood.
Pia works her pieces primarily by hand, with gouge and mallet, occasionally beginning to sculpt using power tools. With some creations, she preserves the birch bark as nature’s own artwork, a reflection of the lake and archipelago landscapes, echoing the snowy slopes of the Arctic. Each block of raw wood has the key to its final shape. Her sole inspiration is the wood’s unique, natural beauty, which guides her process in drawing out and sharing her vision.
Born in Helsinki, Finland, Pia spent her childhood on many continents. In 1987 she settled in Paris to study fashion design and has lived and worked there since as a surface designer in textiles and interiors.
Having a carpenter for a grandfather and spending summers in Finland at her family’s lake-side cabin, surrounded by birch trees made wood a familiar material for Pia. Mandatory woodworking classes in primary school also enhanced her interest in pursuing the possibilities of this medium.
After 25 years of creating 2D graphic designs commercially, Pia felt the need to create abstract volumes, hand-crafting a piece from beginning to end. And what medium could come more naturally to a Finn than wood? She began taking woodworking and wood sculpture classes in 2017. She has since discovered the freedom, as well as the constraints, that this material has to offer.
Ash from the Paris area and Finnish birch are her essences of choice. Their hard white wood with graphic veins inspire the forms of her sculpture. With her graphic designer’s fascination for contrasts, she highlights the shapes with colors, like Klein blue and cool pastels, not often associated with wood.
Pia works her pieces primarily by hand, with gouge and mallet, occasionally beginning to sculpt using power tools. With some creations, she preserves the birch bark as nature’s own artwork, a reflection of the lake and archipelago landscapes, echoing the snowy slopes of the Arctic. Each block of raw wood has the key to its final shape. Her sole inspiration is the wood’s unique, natural beauty, which guides her process in drawing out and sharing her vision.