Lassi Kontiainen selected as artist-in-residence for FIDA 2025

Lassi Kontiainen is THE ARTIST selected for FIDA - residency program for visual artists in collaboration with FABRIKKEN in 2025.

Lassi Kontiainen is a Helsinki-based visual artist currently finishing his MFA studies at the University of Fine Arts Helsinki. Kontiainen works with painting, layering his oil paints and transparent glazes thinly and allowing for his original plan to dissolve in the process to increase the agency of the painting itself.

The selection for the FIDA residency was made by FABRIKKEN and an external jury consisting of artists and curators. The jury’s motivation for choosing Kontiainen reads as follows:

[…] His works are often icon-like, not only in size, but also due to their technique and quality, making them seem almost lit from within. Although vague traces of figuration are present, the overall impression is closer to abstraction. Kontiainen is drawn to religious themes but avoids unidirectionality by insisting on a more inclusive and contemplative spirituality of body and mind. 

The FIDA jury finds that FABRIKKEN and Copenhagen would be a productive context for the development of Kontiainen’s practice, and that the institution and the art scene will provide an apt framework for a young artist looking to expand network and opportunities. 

FIDA is the Finnish Cultural Institute in Denmark’s residency programme for visual artists. It is operated in collaboration with Fonden FABRIKKEN for Kunst og Design in Copenhagen. The purpose of the programme is to accelerate the resident’s career by offering active curatorial support, by building networks between professional artists on the contemporary Finnish and Danish art scenes, and by introducing Finnish or Finland-based artists to the Danish art market. During his residency, Kontiainen will receive active curatorial support. The residency will take place in August - September 2025.

Fonden FABRIKKEN for Kunst og Design 

FABRIKKEN is a not-for-profit art institution that provides studios and work spaces for around 70 professional Copenhagen-based artists and designers. FABRIKKEN is guided by the spirit of professionalism and exchange, which is nurtured through an event program and a weekly communal lunch. In addition to the studios, FABRIKKEN contains a 1.000 m2 space, which is used for artistic production, exhibitions, and events.