Maria Ylikoski (b. 1966, Ikaalinen) studied photography at the Turku School of Art and Communication and the Högskolan för Fotografi och Film in Gothenburg. In 2011, she earned her Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki. Ylikoski has previously worked on several video portraits, and her artistic practice frequently examines themes related to memory, storytelling, and family. While her projects often originate from photographic inquiries, her final works encompass moving images and installations. Ester the Invisible began in 2020 with funding from the Kone Foundation and remains an ongoing endeavour. Ylikoski’s work has been featured in exhibitions and festivals in Finland and internationally since 1995.
The exhibition and the artist’s work have been supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike), and Visek. Special thanks are extended to the Finnish National Museum / Tamminiemi and the Archives of President Urho Kekkonen.
To the artist’s website