Meri Toivanen

Meri Toivanen (1996, Finland) researches the borderlines of figuration throughout the painting process. In her body of work, the symbolism of power is explored and filtered through events, meetings and stages related to game plays in their performative dimension. As her referential inventory, Meri uses Finnish film history, playing with the disconnection of these images as fragments of popular culture, for new insights to emerge.

During her time at MORPHO, Meri will continue to research the allegories of conflict and power. In addition to working with oil paint, Meri will experiment with drawing materials such as self-made pastels, bringing new discoveries into the painting process. The reference to Finnish cinema goes through a transformation in the material exploration, as well as a disconnection, when working on these images apart from their original context within the Antwerp environment.

Meri graduated as an MFA in Painting from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp in 2022. She is the ex-aequo winner of Marianne van Vyve Prize in 2022 and has taken part in exhibitions in Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark and Finland, such as ‘The Spring Exhibition’ at Kunsthalle Charlottenborg in Copenhagen, and ‘Bow A Head’ at Annie Gentils Gallery in Antwerp.