Oiva Toikka

Professor Oiva Toikka (1931-2019) was one of the greatest names in Finnish glass. His imaginative, rich, bold glass art deviates from the streamlined aesthetic of Nordic design. Oiva Toikka was renowned worldwide for his unique and massive contribution to Finnish art glass over the past half century (the Birds Collection for Iittala is his best-known work, whose pieces are renewed annually and are highly sought after as gifts and collector’s pieces). He enjoyed an international career and received numerous awards, among them the Lunning Prize, Pro Finlandia Medal, World Glass Now 85 Award, Kaj Franck Design Prize and the Prince Eugen Medal.

In addition to glass and ceramics, Toikka’s career covered many other areas, including stage costumes, drawings, and textiles.

Starting from 2006 Toikka also begun a fruitful collaboration with Magis, resulting in three products made of rotational–moulded polyethylene (the rocking bird Dodo, the coat stand Paradise Tree and the shelving system Downtown) and a couple of serigraphs, called Moments of Ingenuity.

Oiva Toikka was an artist of immense creative talent, vision and versatility, the creator of elaborate compositions and installations, all drawn by an impulsive imagination that seems to ignore boundaries and pay scant regard to aesthetic coherence.