The exhibitions of the Young Artist of the Year Man Yau and media artist Hanna Haaslahti are opening at the Tampere Art Museum

Young Artist of the Year 2025 Man Yau

Tampere Art Museum has once again selected a bold and distinctive talent as Young Artist of the Year – Man Yau, who continues the impressive tradition of pioneers in Finnish contemporary art. The premise of her artistic work is to explore the feeling of “being on display and under pressure. Yau works with sculptures and installations, often incorporating objects or situations recognizable from everyday surroundings. Yau draws on the cultural specificity of different material textures, along with the emotions and connotations those materials evoke. Personal experiences in her work are linked to a wider historical context and the values and meanings carried by the materials. 

Yau skilfully uses traditional sculptural techniques and precious materials such as bronze, clay, marble, wood, steel and glass, but also paper, silk and dried flowers, often combining materials in unexpected ways. The materials used and the connotations attached to them play a key role in works that combine both strong and delicate elements. The artist also focuses on herself and her own body in her work, especially in her more recent works.

Young Artist of the Year Man Yau (b. 1991) is a sculptor living and working in Helsinki. She holds a Master’s degree in sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts (2023) and a Master’s degree from the Aalto University School of Arts and Design (2018), specialising in ceramic and glass design and material-based work.