• Comment: Well done on creating the draft, and it may potentially meet the relevant requirements (including WP:GNG, WP:ANYBIO, WP:CREATIVE) but presently it is not clear that it does.
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• Comment: @DoubleGrazing:. S0091 (talk) 17:59, 28 July 2025 (UTC)

• Comment: please read WP:CS:EMBED and revise. Astra Travasso (talk) 18:41, 8 July 2025 (UTC)

Niina Suominen (born 1973, Masku Finland) is a Finnish visual artist working with moving images and experimental film. Her artistic practice is based upon experimentation and improvisation both in terms of content and technical practices. Suominen lives and works in Merimasku, Naantali in the Southwestern archipelago of Finland.^[1][2]

Suominen was born in Masku in the countryside of Southwest Finland. She has the education of an artisan blacksmith and has worked at a Finnish wildlife zoo as animal caretaker. After a one year course in animation on 8mm film in Kokkola in 1998, she came back to art education relatively late in life. She graduated in 2004 with a BA from Turku University of Applied Sciences, The Academy of Arts. Suominen studied under the Estonian animation artist Priit Pärn.^[3][4][5]

Suominen was one of the three original founding members of Turun Anikistit ry, the association of animation artists based in Turku, Finland founded in 2003. She was the association's chairperson for the first years.^[6] Suominen is a member of Artists' Association MUU^[7], AV-arkki - The Centre for Finnish Media Art^[1], Filmverkstaden rf^[8], Photographic Centre Peri and Turku Printmakers Association^[9].^[10]

Suominen mainly works with moving images. She has also worked with panoramic projections and installations.^[11] In 2023 she worked as communal artist in Pargas and Nagu in the Swedish speaking Turku archipelago.^[12]

In her film Smoking Spot (2025) the images were produced by manually effecting the images during the shooting. Additional images were shot on 16mm film. Smoking Spot is an experimental documentary about the loss of the communal smoking area as societies strive to become smoke-free. The music was composed by Finnish experimental electronic music composer Lau Nau.^[13][14][15]

Diabolus ex Machina (2024) was produced by capturing series of images from white screens with a handheld camera. The music for the piece was composed by Finnish experimental electronic music composer Sara Milazzo. The gallery premiere of Diabolus ex machina was at Galleria Huuto, Helsinki Finland.^[16]

For the experimental animation documentary Golden Headacher (2022) about the cultural ways of dealing with women's feelings of hate and aggression, Suominen used textile and decor waste for visual material.^[17] The music for the work was composed by Finnish composer Risto Ylihärsilä who has also contributed the music to some earlier works by Suominen.^[18]

Golden Headacher was awarded the Honorary Mention at the Rising of Lusitania – AnimaDoc Film Festival Szczecin, Poland. The juror Ewa Ciszewska accompanied the award with the words: "for exploring the theme of difficult female emotions in a form that is in tune with the tearful voice of the characters."^[19]

Piotr Kardas wrote in his guest article Great Animation Short Documentaries of 2023 in the animation news magazine Zippy Frames :

"A bold and honest disenchantment of motherhood, by exploring and expressing the negative and true female emotions associated with it. The women's testimonies correspond perfectly with the figurative-abstract visual layer, in which fragments of textile materials and "idyllic" glossy photos of children, which were popular in Scandinavia in the last century, constitute a bitter counterpoint to painful confessions."^[20]

Suominen has worked with 16mm film material producing cameraless animation straight on film by exposing, painting, scratching, taping and chemically manipulating the material. This method can be seen in the works I Call Myself Sane (2010) and What Time Is? (2020) both of which also contain found footage.^{[21][22][23][24]}

The music used for the latter was a new edit and mix of the track Mikä aika on? (1970) by the Finnish pioneering electronic music composer Jukka Ruohomäki. The piece was performed on the DIMI (Digital Music Instrument), the first Finnish synthesizer completed by Erkki Kurenniemi at the electronic music studio of University of Helsinki.^[25][26][27] Other images for What Time Is? were produced eg. by shooting moving metal plates, a bathroom mat and an insect net on an overhead projector frame by frame.

I Call Myself Sane (2010) is based on a poetry music piece by the author Teemu Hirvilammi and composer Ari Taskinen (published by Kustannusosakeyhtiö Sammakko on the compilation album Asfalttia ja ruohoa (2001).^[28][21] The work was exhibited at Turku Art Museum.^[29] I Call Myself Sane was awarded the 1st prize at Videoformes festival, Clermont-Ferrand, France^[30][31].

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do (2015) is an object animation about the destruction of useless things given to us by our loved ones and acquaintances. The items get destroyed piece by piece, phase by phase by tearing, squeezing, riddling, burning and melting.^[32][33]

The time lapse animation In Memoriam (2013) was shot in the middle of forests in abandoned houses and their surroundings.^[34][35][36] The theme of temporality and passing of time is reflected in the voice audio that was edited from a field recording of an auction of a hinterland farm estate:

"The image drifts through decaying rooms where furniture, dishes, and traces of life remain — memories of residents from years past. Interval filming highlights the relativity of time and the transience of human life. In the background, the murmur of an auctioneer can be heard." (translated from Finnish)^[35]

The work has been exhibited at Pori Art Museum.^[37]

The experimental object animation shot outdoors A Finnish Fable 2011 (2011) is a homage to the American experimental film maker Carmen D'Avino whose film A Finnish Fable (1960) also starred a mannequin. The film was shot outdoors with the weather and lighting conditions beyond control. The music was composed by Tuomas Toiviainen and the sound design was by Svante Colerus.^[35][38][39]

The work has been exhibited at Turku Art Museum.^[40] Suominen's film was awarded 1st prize Sphinx Award at the Videomedeja festival in Novi Sad, Serbia.^[41][35] The jury opined about the film:

"This work explores the idea of excess free time or certain disorientation within the frame of late capitalist society. In addition, the author deconstructs stereotypes of "perfect" life in the Scandinavian countries: in a world where everything is precisely regulated human being has become a puppet. Also, it is worthwhile to consider the permeating witty music and animation in the final procedures that result in entertaining film which boldly explores the idea of free time."^[42]

Tuula Leinonen, the Executive in Residence at Aalto University of Arts and Design Helsinki, Department of Film writes in her reference book 100 vuotta suomalaista animaatiota (Hundred Years of Finnish Animation):

"[the film] sets up a tense dialogue between a plastic male mannequin and a rural setting. The figure busies itself with tasks typical of Finnish countryside idylls: grilling sausages, chopping wood, enjoying the sauna, swimming, scrubbing rugs, and lingering in a field of flowers. Its awkward movements signal a disconnection from nature. A tango plays in the background." (translated from Finnish) ^[35]

The film has also been interpreted to represent the present day situation amongst severe environmental catastrophes. Maria Karuvuori wrote in Voima magazine:

"The animation comments on modern humanity’s tendency to commodify nature as experiences. The comparison works in the opposite direction as well: in Suominen’s animation, the human has become a helpless plastic object — mere hazardous waste within their former natural environment." (translated from Finnish).^[43]

Good Stuff (2009) used food categorized as bio-waste as material. The food was sourced from waste bins which required collection rounds starting at 5am to procure approximately 200 kilograms of waste food each round. Afterwards the material was organized, cleaned, washed and sorted for shooting. The scenes were constructed by improvisation.^[44][45][46] Good Stuff was awarded a Honorary Mention in the Political Animation Category at Klik! Amsterdam Animation Festival, Netherlands; a Honorary Mention at Nordic Glory Film Festival Jyväskylä, Finland; a Honorary Mention, at Kettupäivät film festival, Helsinki Finland and a Honorary Mention at Animatricks, Helsinki Finland.^[10] English Lessons, College (2008) was an episode in the Turun Anikistit co-production English Lessons.^[47][48][49] The film was awarded a honorary mention at Tampere Film Festival, Finland^[50][51]. Suominen's episode was the first instance of her using organic material. In the film Suominen animated fish innards obtained from the fish industry for the episode that deals with the pressures of adapting to the demands of society:^[5]

"Fish and fish remnants symbolize life confined to an aquarium — individuals are yanked from hooks, torn into heads and carcasses, and their internal organs morph into an abstract, living surface." (translated from Finnish)^[5]

Comeuppance (2007) was an episode in the Animaation Apupyörä co-production series Luonnon laki (The Law of Nature).^[52] It was done as a cutout animation and the music was composed by graphic designer, art director, musician and composer Tomi Leppänen.^[53]

Room (2004) was an object animation shot on 16mm film.^[54] It was Suominen's graduation work from the Turku Arts Academy. Suominen used worn out household objects as protagonists in the film situated in a one room countryside cottage. The objects and their relationships were dealt with in an abstract way without a regular plot leaving the interpretation to the viewer.

The other two school works are the minimalist puppet animation Polaris (2003) and the drawn animation Punctata (2002). Polaris was awarded the Prize of the Youth Jury at Tampere Film Festival^[55]

Suominen has also worked as animator in the Estonian animation artist Rao Heidmets's film Pärlimees (The Pearl Man) (2006)^[56] and Finnish artist Tommi Juutilainen's Ankkuri (The Anchor)^[57][58][59] (2007).

Handwork and working with physical objects are the constants of Suominen's work. Her artistic education and background are in animation and working with film.^[2]

The basic characteristics of Suominen's style and approach to film making can be seen in the waste food object animation Good Stuff (2009): a cultural or societal theme, the absence of a linear narrative or story, the abstract expressionism of colourful, changing surfaces in this instance bordering on action painting.^[45] In Good Stuff Suominen was developing a way forward from the confines of traditional animation:

"[she] aimed to strip objects of anthropomorphic gestures and actions. The viewer can focus on form, color, and the tactile quality of materials. Similarly, the sound design eliminates humanizing or narrative-driven effects — what unfolds is the movement of visually captivating foods." (translated from Finnish)^[5]

Suominen had tested working with organic material in English Lessons, College (2007) in which fish innards are pushed, pulled and torn in abstract waves of colliding bursts.^[5]

Both of these works exemplify the way in which the feel of the material and handwork are the basis of Suominen's improvisational process towards the finished work. This was demonstrated again in Golden Headacher (2022) in which Suominen animated textile and decor waste to produce images akin to moving paintings.^[18][60]

A Finnish Fable 2011 (2011) took the principles of handwork, improvisation and chance to another direction: animating a heavy mannequin outdoors in the Finnish countryside cottage atmosphere required modifications to the mannequin and physical strength to manoeuvre it. The weather and lighting conditions were beyond the author's control thus bringing a new dimension to the work.^[61]

Suominen has worked extensively with film material. She has exposed, developed, painted, scratched, taped and chemically manipulated film to produce moving images without a camera. In I Call Myself Sane (2010) the images are dreamlike and poetic whereas parts of What Time Is? (2020) can be seen as resembling pop art.^[45] Nina Suni writing in the Finnish daily newspaper Turun Sanomat (TS) wrote of I Call Myself Sane:

"The visuality of the work is striking — it leaps from painted abstraction to precise line, and just as effortlessly into a gentle forest landscape strewn with dead animals.” (translated from Finnish) .^[29]

In this film Suominen brought the inspiration of pioneering avant garde film makers to the fore:

"The stream of organic and abstract film material pays homage to the legacy of experimental film pioneers such as Len Lye (1901–1980)." (translated from Finnish)^[45]

In Smoking Spot (2025) Suominen continued working with film by shooting black and white images on 16mm film. Material was also produced by manually effecting the images while shooting by holding and moving transparent objects between the lens of the camera and the target.^[15]

Diabolus ex Machina (2024) was done by shooting image sequences of white screens of cheap consumer electronics displays. The music was composed by Sara Milazzo. Diabolus ex Machina is another instance of Suominen's approach to film making as producing moving paintings.^[62]

Suominen’s works have been widely exhibited internationally.^[10] Her works are distributed by AV-Arkki - The Centre for Finnish Media Art and Raina Film Festival Distribution. Her works have been presented on Finnish national TV by Yle, including: Smoking Spot, Golden Headacher^[63], Good Stuff, Comeuppance, English Lessons: College and Punctata. Good Stuff has also been syndicated in Latin America by Turner Broadcasting via Kurzfilm Agentur Hamburg.

• The Artists' Association of Finland Artist Register Page
• Niina Suominen homepage.
• AV-Arkki Artist Page
• Levonille lasken luojani -podcast #304 2024-11-01 (in Finnish).
• Interview in Turun Sanomat (in Finnish) 2023-02-11.