Sofia Karinen (b. 2000) is a Finnish-French visual artist living in Oulu. She has been an avid drawer and painter since a young age. Karinen studied at the Oulu Children and Youth Art School from 2009 to 2011 and has been studying at the Liminka Art School since 2021, where she has expanded her work to include oil painting, watercolour and graphics.

Karinen received the Oulu Saskia scholarship in 2021 and was recently selected for Kaleva Media’s Spektri program, where six artists aged 18-25 receive support and media exposure during the Capital of Culture year. In addition to the Space for artistry (Tilaa taiteilijuuteen) residency, Karinen has worked at the Vallauris artist residency in southern France. “Colours carry, colours take with them, with colours” was the title of his first solo exhibition, and it aptly describes her relationship with colors.

Karinen’s subjects stem from her environment and local nature. Photos taken with her phone serve as a sketchbook for her paintings, which she mostly creates in oil. Her distinctive style is influenced by the French painter Henri Matisse (1869–1954). Her latest interest is also in the works of another French painter, Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947).