Hotel Ax exhibition 10.1. -1.4.2026
Curated by: Emilia Kannosto
Macoumba Ndiaye
Macoumba Ndiaye is a Senegalese-Finnish painter and artist living in Finland. He is an ambassador of the Afro-Nordic art form, blending African and Nordic culture, and diversity through his visual artistry. His art is a reflection of inner movement and cultural resonance, where African rhythm meets Nordic minimalism. Through abstract forms, layered textures, and symbolic figures, Maku Dakar builds a unique visual language that speaks of memory, migration, and transformation. His canvases reveal a dance of colors and emotions at once grounded in heritage and open to the infinite play of light and possibility.
Jenni Vakkilainen
Jenni Vakkilainen born in 1984, lives in Porvoo and works in Vallila, Helsinki. Her paintings move on the border between representational and non-representational, creating spatial and colorful worlds. Through a playful atmosphere, the paintings take the viewer to the edge of reality, creating worlds of the mind. Here and there, referential symbols and signs can be seen in the works. For her, conveying the power of positivity and the interaction of colors is important. The desire to share good things and to give the opportunity to stop by oneself and the work are an essential part of painting. In the paintings, thin and thick, as well as translucent layers, alternate, creating a sense of depth and space. There are many paintings under work at the same time and the works take shape and reveal themselves as the painting process progresses. Paintings change and come to life the longer you look at them, and they are meant to provoke thoughts that you might not otherwise stop to ponder or experience. They can be something that touches or pauses for a moment, or makes the body tingle and the mind gallop along tickling paths.
Petra Kinnunen
Petra Kinnunen (b. 1991) is a Helsinki-based visual artist and dancer who works in a multidisciplinary manner with painting, glass, ceramics and crafts. Her art is characterized by surrealist elements, symbolism, themes of femininity, fleeting moments and stages of life. In her paintings, Petra deals with personal and social themes and the layers of her identity.
AX Under 10.1-2.3.2026
Dicney Bibiana Ruiz Hedz
Dicney Bibiana Ruiz Hedz is a Colombian visual artist and printmaker. Her practice focuses on large-scale printmaking, contemporary graphic arts, and research-based creation, with an emphasis on collaborative, pedagogical processes and public-space circulation. Since 2017, she has developed projects that challenge the technical and conceptual limits of traditional printmaking by relocating the workshop to non-conventional contexts and fostering the exchange of knowledge between artists and communities. Her work articulates technique, territory, and performative action, approaching printmaking as a tool for memory, critical reflection, and cultural dialogue. She has participated in exhibitions, interventions, and educational initiatives at both national and international levels, contributing to the visibility of Caribbean Colombian graphic practices within contemporary art contexts.
Juha Liede
Juha Liede is a Helsinki-based designer and street artist who mainly works in illustration and animation. His work often consists of letters in different styles, from which he creates rhythmic and colorful compositions.
Linda “Superflinda” Söderholm
Linda “Superflinda” Söderholm is a Finnish multidisciplinary visual artist & muralist, illustrator, and graphic designer with a passion for all things retro. Her work is a celebration of strong graphic forms, expressive lettering, original characters, and bold colour contrasts. She creates nostalgic, joyful works that bring a smile to your face, and often evoke fond memories of times gone past. Linda’s works, full of rhythmic energy, also reflect her background in hip-hop culture. Her techniques—ranging from markers, rollers, spray paints, brushes to digital applications and installations—are as diverse as her inspirations. Linda has exhibited throughout Europe and as far afield as West Africa, Brazil, Jamaica, and China.
Tomi Asikainen
Tomi Asikainen (born 1974) is a Helsinki-based graphic artist, photographer and maker.
In his photography, he deals with the interfaces between the present and the past, using places and situations that a normal person would not find themselves in. Asikainen graduated as an advertising graphic artist in 1996. He began painting and photographing graffiti in 1986. Asikainen’s work has been awarded in, among others, London and New York. In his day job, he works as a corresponding visual designer at an international human rights organization.