Born a craftswoman

In 2013, Päivi won the prestigious Premio Faenza in Italy
She makes both functional everyday objects and unique sculptures
She considers ceramics to be a lifelong journey

Asking Päivi Rintaniemi the reasons behind her choice of career is to ask the wrong question. It was the other way around – the craft picked her. Becoming a sculptor and designer just felt self-evident and natural from childhood. The fact that her parents liked to build things with their hands certainly had an influence. Päivi acquired her own kiln as a student in the 1980s. Since then, her work has always had two sides, each complementing the other: functional objects for daily use under her design brand Amfora, as well as unique sculptures. The same applies to her working methods; traditional handicraft skills and industrial inventions exist in harmony.

Päivi Rintaniemi is an expert artisan: she began her career in 1986

Discover her work

Discover her work

Ara

Flamma

Ortus

Domus (2010)

Rondo

INTERVIEW

It means something made with professional skill, which, from the outside, may appear easy and simple. It can be an epiphany, a thought-provoking experience, something that asks the question: why?

Human beings and the miracle of life never cease to fascinate me. Also, the union between fragile and heavy things, and shapes conveyed by movement. Working with clay is meditative and communicative. It has its own will. We listen to and respect one another.

My artistic work is traditional – primitive, meditative, slow. Innovation comes when developing new methods for the artistic processes. My husband and I have created a production model that combines traditional and industrial processes to make objects for our Amfora brand.

The thousands of ideas and ways to create shapes and tell stories. The passion, the way work evolves and surprises. That doesn't mean it’s always pleasurable. Physically and mentally it can be very draining.