Posti’s art award for 2022 was presented in April to sculptor Kim Simonsson, whose two sculptures will now be featured on stamps.
The stamps showcase Kim Simonsson’s sculptures from 2008 and 2022. “On one of the stamps, we’ll see the Bubblegum Girl painted in white, who blows a bubble of bubblegum made of silvered glass with her superpowers. The other stamp will introduce the Sleeping Reading Moss Girl, in which a girl has fallen asleep while reading,” says the artist himself in describing the stamp.
Hand-sculpted from ceramics, Kim Simonsson’s figures are inspired by popular culture and more traditional art history. Internationally, Simonsson is particularly known for his sculptures depicting fairytale characters with a lively and moss-like green surface. “The surface structure of the figures is created with nylon fiber, which I transfer onto the sculptures using a special electrostatic technique,” Simonsson says.
The green fairytale characters first attracted a spectacular amount of attention at the international art fair Design Miami in 2015. “Photos of the moss figures went viral on Instagram and suddenly orders started pouring in. Since then, the green moss figures have toured around the world in art exhibitions,” says Simonsson with a laugh.
With its own art award, Posti wants to raise the status of stamps and art and increase people’s appreciation of them. “You can spend a long while exploring the interesting details of Kim Simonsson’s sculptures. It’s great that Kim’s artworks can now also be admired on stamps,” says Tommi Kantola, Design Manager at Posti.
This year was the sixth time Posti’s art award was presented. In 2017, the art award went to sculptor Jasmin Anoschkin, in 2018 to graffiti artist EGS, in 2019 to fashion designer Mert Otsamo, in 2020 to visual artist Janne Laine and in 2021 to glass artist Alma Jantunen.
