HOTEL AX EXHIBITION 1.10.2026-11.1.2027
Curated by: Emilia Kannosto
Manuela Bosco
Manuela Bosco (b. 1982) is a Finnish-Italian artist, Kundalini yoga instructor, and mother of four. A former Olympic-level hurdler and actress, she now guides people toward a more holistically meaningful life that is true to themselves. Manuela’s path has led her from the world of sports to theater studies in Rome, followed by years of writing and acting. Although painting has always been a part of her life, it was only after the birth of her first child in 2014 that she fully embraced her identity as an artist. Since then, her works have been widely and regularly exhibited both in Finland and abroad. She has established her place in the Finnish art scene and has sold all of her thousands of creations. Her color-saturated works explore community, the relationship between nature and humanity, the seamless connection between the spiritual and the material, and themes of womanhood with great vitality and joy.
info@manuelabosco.net
manuelabosco.com
IG: @manuelabosco
Valter Stranden
Valter Stranden (b. 1994) is a Helsinki-based painter. He graduated from the Free Art School (Vapaa Taidekoulu) in 2022. Stranden works mainly with oil on canvas, moving freely between figurative and abstract expression. He approaches painting through color, working very intuitively. In recent years, the subjects of his works have included landscapes, flowers, and especially mountains. Alongside painting, Stranden writes poetry. Writing is an essential part of his painting process, bringing a strong poetic atmosphere to his visual works.
www.valterstranden.com
jvstranden@hotmail.fi
IG: @valterstranden
Teija Kosenius
Teija Kosenius is an artist based in Riihimäki who works full-time with art. Her paintings frequently feature children, interiors, and old houses. Color plays a major role in her work. Kosenius uses acrylics for her interior paintings. For children’s themes, she typically combines acrylics and pastel crayons. For urban scenes, she uses a mixed media technique consisting of acrylic, gesso, and acrylic ink. Her interior paintings often depict celebrations and time spent with loved ones, as she believes giving time to one another is the most precious thing in life. Everything is wonderful, and of course, the lilacs are in bloom! These interior paintings are like fairy tales for adults—reminiscent of Moomins without the Moomins, bringing something lovely and soft into this world. Humans cannot live on hard materials alone. Old houses in urban landscapes, with their slightly crooked walls and window frames, remind us of our humanity. The city is big, but we are small in it, and we are all in this together. Life is always imperfect, and that is what makes it beautiful. Her children’s themes focus especially on girls. According to Kosenius, they function as self-portraits in terms of their atmosphere. They reflect something deep within a person that can be difficult to put into specific words or emotions. Even today, she feels it is important to highlight what this world is like for those who do not push forward with their elbows first, but are rather at the mercy of circumstances created by others. Teija Kosenius’s studio is a commercial space in the center of Riihimäki, Ateljee Tiriteijaa, Hämeenkatu 9-15. Everyone is welcome to visit! It is best to send a message in advance if you plan to drop by, as there are no official opening hours. You are most likely to find her painting on weekdays between 9:00 and 15:00, but visits during evenings and weekends can also be arranged.
www.facebook.com/tiriteijaanavetta
Inquiries about the artworks: +358 44 366 3637
IG: @teijakosenius_art
Rauha Aaltonen
Rauha Aaltonen is a Helsinki-based visual artist and ceramicist who works with ceramics, painting, and installation. In the group exhibition at Hotel AX, Aaltonen presents ceramic sculptures from recent years. In her works, swans, seashells, plants, and organic shapes build a world where the boundaries between the human body and the rest of nature begin to dissolve. The sculptures explore transformation, womanhood, our relationship with nature, and interspecies connections, drawing inspiration from fairy tales, mythology, and personal experiences.
rauha.aaltonen@gmail.com
Inquiries about the artworks: +358 44 041 9000
IG: @radiantrauha
Sonia Anker
Sonia Anker is a Finland-based artist and designer with a Master’s degree in Fashion and Textiles from Aalto University. Her artistic practice moves between expressive still life and abstract painting, with a strong focus on colour, texture, movement, and emotion. Drawing inspiration from everyday moments, personal experiences, and intuitive mark-making, Sonia creates works that balance the familiar with the abstract. Through bold brushwork, layered surfaces, and an instinctive approach to colour, her paintings explore atmosphere and feeling while leaving space for the viewer’s own interpretation.
sonia.anker6@gmail.com
AX UNDER EXHIBITION 1.10.-30.11. 2026
Annika Bergvik-Forsander
Annika Bergvik-Forsander is a visual artist who works with painting, drawing, collage, and textile embroidery. Bodily presence, gender issues, and psychology are themes she constantly explores in her suggestive imagery. Her works often incorporate both art-historical references and subtle black humor. At Hotel AX, Bergvik-Forsander presents a series of oil paintings from a project that began under the partly ironic working title “Finnish Pottery.” The exhibited works are based on ideas of materiality and how we collect objects and assign them different values. The images play specifically with fictional ceramic utility and decorative objects, and the painted or drawn visualizations give them the character of a portrait. Conceptually, the project relates to both overconsumption and so-called “conspicuous consumption.” By purchasing a certain type of status object, the owner hopes to elevate their personal status and perhaps gain a desired social standing. The objects in the paintings are unique and headstrong alternatives to modern, normative status objects. Bergvik-Forsander has held about 40 solo exhibitions across Finland, including at Galleria G, Galleri Sinne, Vaasa Kunsthalle, Poriginal Gallery, Porvoo Kunsthalle, and Gallery Titanik. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions throughout Finland and internationally in Munich, Berlin, Riga, Salzburg, Umeå, and Stockholm. In addition to her degree in fine arts, she holds a Master’s degree in Art History from Uppsala University. In 2021, Bergvik-Forsander was awarded the Marcus and Eva Collins Memorial Fund Painting Prize.
bergvikforsander@gmail.com