Upcoming Exhibition

Kirsi Reinikka —
Seeking & Finding

Oct 9 – Oct 18, 2025

About the Artist      

The latest exhibition by Kirsi Reinikka, Seeking & Finding emerged after two intense years of art-making with a focus on painting, and now exists as the iteration of earlier explorations, beginning in 2020. The first shift toward loosening her expression began while working in Alice Springs, NT, where she attended short-term art workshops at Charles Darwin University. This continued in 2021 through ‘Art as Therapy’ group sessions she co-facilitated at World Wellness Group in Brisbane, where she explored materials, lines, shapes and ideas alongside participants.

In 2023, Kirsi actively sought new stimuli through online art courses and experiments across media, including ceramics. She is currently mentored in painting via correspondence through the London-based art school Turps Banana, and a RADF Quick Arts Grant from Logan City Council enabled her to participate in Drawing Towards Painting with Glen Skien at Brisbane Institute of Art.

This ongoing process of seeking and finding has ultimately culminated in the exhibition presented presently at Side Gallery.

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Join us Thursday 9 October, 6 – 8 pm for the opening of this powerful solo exhibition by artist Kirsi Reinikka.

Visit soon to see works for sale.

About the Artist

Kirsi Reinikka

Kirsi Reinikka (b. 1963, northern Finland) has a multidisciplinary background in photojournalism, writing, documentary filmmaking, social work and art therapy.

After a 20-year hiatus, she returned to mixed media painting in 2023. Her process is instinctive — beginning with urgent marks on whatever surface is at hand, often second-hand or gifted materials, before slowing into careful revision. What starts as broad, gestural energy often settles into fine scratches, drips or wavering lines. Though the final marks are not always precise, the works reveal a tension between restraint and vigour.

Some paintings rest untouched for hours, others for years, before being revisited or considered complete. Kirsi considers reflection to be an essential component of her practice.

Kirsi works with acrylics, oil pastels, markers, pencils, charcoal, inks, watercolour, fabric, paper and varnish, embracing the limitations of found materials as a counterbalance to her exploratory approach.
Rooted in lived and imagined memory, her paintings unfold through intuitive abstraction, layering and discovery. Her influences range from First Nations, Tribal, Outsider, Raw and Abstract Art to Art Informel, Tachisme and Expressionism, with inspiration drawn from artists such as Isamu Noguchi, Cy Twombly, Jean Dubuffet, Henri Matisse, Helene Schjerfbeck and Rut Bryk.

About the Curator

Laura Brinin

Laura Brinin is a curator of contemporary art, currently facilitating the vibrant program at Side Gallery in the heart of Red Hill, Brisbane. With an unwavering passion for nurturing connections with emerging and established creatives, Laura is dedicated to fostering artistic growth through avenues such as social media, branding, and identity development.

Laura has exhibited her own work both in Australia and overseas, as well as working as an independent freelance curator across Brisbane for over ten years. In her downtime, you can find her reading, travelling, or stalking dogs.