Serving bowl, Lintu, Pro Arte, Heljä Liukko-Sundström, Arabia

Heljä Tuulia Mirjam Liukko-Sundström (1938-2024). One of Finland's most beloved ceramic artists, Heljä Liukko-Sundström devoted more than five decades to creating a poetic world where ceramics became a language of storytelling, emotion and nature. After graduating from the Institute of Industrial Arts in Helsinki in 1962, she joined Arabia, where she worked continuously until the factory closed in 2016 before continuing her artistic practice through the Arabia Art Department Society, which she helped establish. Renowned for her unique reliefs, sculptures and ceramic tiles, Liukko-Sundström developed a distinctive visual language filled with gentle hares, flowers, forests and quiet moments from everyday life, combining childlike wonder with subtle reflections on the human experience. Alongside her unique artworks, she designed the celebrated Tuuli tableware collection for Arabia's 110th anniversary and created numerous industrial designs, including mugs, clocks, decorative tiles and ceramic objects that became familiar in Finnish homes. Beyond ceramics, she authored and illustrated a series of much-loved children's books, many inspired by her own ceramic creations, earning the Finnish State Prize for Children's Culture. Awarded the title of Professor and the Pro Finlandia Medal, Liukko-Sundström is remembered not only as an exceptional ceramic artist but also as one of the great storytellers of Finnish design, whose work continues to bring warmth, kindness and imagination to collectors around the world.

(Photo source: Markku Lepola, Press Photo Archive JOKA, Finnish Heritage Agency)