Finnish artist Paula Pääkkönen’s whimsical glass ice creams look good enough to eat. Already flying off shelves at home and abroad, the artist’s work brings a nostalgic summer joy to all who lay eyes on it
They’re candy-coloured, glossy and deliciously joy-inducing. In fact, they look so enticing that you genuinely want to give them a lick. We’re talking about Finnish glass artist Paula Pääkkönen’s work – namely her luscious ice cream sculptures, mouth-blown from red-hot glass.
Born in the peaceful countryside of eastern Finland, Pääkkönen always knew she had an artistic side to her but wasn’t quite sure which discipline to pursue. A year spent in France sparked an interest in ceramics, which Pääkkönen decided to study at an art school in Kuopio, a quaint town near her home. “I pictured myself as this ceramist living in the middle of the woods, making plates with my potter’s wheel,” she chuckles.
But life had a different plan for her. Upon starting her classes, Pääkkönen got the opportunity to try glassblowing and immediately fell in love with it. “We made roses and swans, which are the shapes you normally start with, and I was instantly sold,” she says. Right away, she switched to a degree in glassblowing, which took her to internships in England and Scotland, where she further honed her craft.
Some of Pääkkönen’s pieces. Photo: Angelina Ilmast
I want to bring people lightness and that wonderful, yummy summer feeling. That's where the inspiration for these pieces comes from - my own, cherished summer memories when I was a kid cycling down a dirt road to buy popsicles from the local shop
Paula Pääkkönen
Although she found the career prospects of working with glass daunting (“It would mean I’d have to become an entrepreneur”), Pääkkönen’s fears vanished when she came to complete her studies in Nuutajärvi, also known as Finland’s ‘glass village’ where glassblowing dates back to 1793. Discovering the place’s rich history and other artists who worked and lived there convinced Pääkkönen she was on the right path. In 2017, Pääkkönen created her first ice cream sculptures, which flew off the shelves.
With the help of her two assistants, the glassblowing phase for each piece takes two sweaty and strenuous hours, during which different coloured glasses are heated, layered, blown and sculpted to achieve the desired shape. “I enjoy working with glass so much – it’s super intensive, and you kind of go into this flow state,” Pääkkönen says. “It’s challenging because glass breaks easily but then it’s so rewarding when you produce something you never imagined you could.”
‘Crashed Blueberry’ glass art work, €6,000. Paula Pääkkönen. Photo: Angelina Ilmast
While Pääkkönen hopes her work ignites a breezy summertime joy, these ice creams have a deeper personal meaning than just gilded childhood memories. When she started designing the pieces, Pääkkönen struggled with her mental health. “I was depressed, and only last autumn I realised that through my art, I had injected those moments of joy and playfulness back into my life,” she says.
Today, Pääkkönen looks back at her past with the sentiment of having had “a good reason to find beauty and bliss in the world and share it with others.” Her ice creams have already delighted people at various exhibitions across Europe, and this year, Japan will get a dose of Pääkkönen’s summer splendour as her works will be sold in Tokyo. Her Vogue debut couldn’t have come at a better time. “It’s unbelievable,” she says. “I’m still in shock, but it’s so fun – I can’t wait.”
Credits:
Photographer: Angelina Ilmast
Talent: Paula Pääkönen
Photographer Assistant: Alina Kokkonen
