Soile Yli-Mäyry is a Finnish painter whose art has its roots in the expression of emotions through abstract works characterised by vivid and intense colours. Soile was born, lives and works in Kuortane, Finland, but during the winter, when temperatures become polar, she exhibits her works abroad. Although Soile does not like to speak about her private life, it is important to emphasise that her family background played a significant role in her development as an artist. Raised in a large family, Soile grew up with deaf-mute parents, where sign language was the norm. This experience instilled in her the importance of signs, which are reflected in her works.

From a young age, the artist always showed a clear passion for drawing and art. She painted her first works in a windowless nuclear shelter, expressing through colours on canvas what she could not see. The turning point in her life and artistic career came when she happened to discover a painting by Kokoschka, a moment of inspiration that led her to travel to Vienna to study art. At the age of 18, she went with her father to a bank for the first time to request a small loan that would allow her to make a one-way journey to the Austrian capital, where she planned, in her mind, to support herself by washing the windows of a hospital. Twenty-five years later, she would return to the bank director to build her gallery, and he would prove to be one of her greatest sponsors (in her biography, the artist recalls that she had already purchased the bills needed to repay her debt when the bank director, during one of her first exhibitions, supported her once again by purchasing one of her paintings).

In her work, Soile Yli-Mäyry draws inspiration from Beuys, an artist who developed his own artistic theory and influenced many fields. Like many artists, she also went through a period of professional difficulty, reaching true “dead points”, during which she felt unable to communicate through her creativity. Without losing heart, at the age of 35 she began attending a sociology course at the University of Helsinki and recounts that the more she concentrated on her studies, the more her inclination to paint returned, allowing her to overcome the crisis of the “dead point”. Her art addresses themes such as dreams, the power of nature, the frenetic pace of modern life and the alienation caused by technology. Through her works, Soile captures “human fragility”, seeking to overcome divisions and prejudices.

In the paintings on display, colour is particularly prominent, with all the colours of the palette taking centre stage. A committed environmentalist, she repeatedly states that, if God created a myriad of flowers in different and particularly distinctive colours, why should they not be used? Colours also appear in the clothing she deliberately chooses to wear in leather because, as she explains, travelling frequently means that such garments do not require ironing and do not crease. Even in her totems and the glass objects she produces in Murano, colour takes centre stage. The exhibition therefore promises an immersion into the artist’s world, made of vivid colours and abstractions that invite the public to explore the complexity of humanity and its relationship with nature in an increasingly urbanised world.

Exhibition Title: SOLO EXHIBITION Soile Yli-Mäyry 
Opening: Friday, October 2, 2026, at 6:00 PM 
Exhibition Dates: 2–22 October 2026
Venue: Medina Art Gallery | Via Merulana, 220 | Rome
Opening Hours: Monday to Friday: 10:00 AM–1:00 PM and 3:00 PM–7:00 PM; Saturday and Sunday by appointment