Meria Palin

Meria Palin’s exhibition Minä en pelkää (“I am not afraid”) brings colour into the darker time of the year. The exhibition is based on a picture book of the same name (Enostone, 2024) created with author J.S. Meresmaa.

Minä en pelkää is a moving and wise story about a girl afraid of dogs and a dog afraid of rockets who meet on New Year’s Eve. It urges us to think of how we could do things differently so no one has to be afraid.

According to Meria Palin, the energetic character of Lola – a girl dressed in yellow and blue – was born while listening to war news. Creating the character was both comforting and empowering for the illustrator. Palin views the process of creating picture books as an art form that allows you to turn life’s great challenges into hope.

The meaning behind turning the pages of the book is also highlighted in the exhibition. The illustrations and spreads created with wax crayons are calm and simple, and the story flows and dances along as you turn the pages.

Meria Palin is an illustrator and author of picture books living in Tampere. She graduated with a master’s degree in children’s book illustration from Cambridge School of Art in 2019. Her debut work created using colour pencils, Taikapuikot (“Magic Knitting Needles”, Etana Editions, 2020), was selected as one of The Most Beautiful Children’s Books in Finland in 2020. Saippuakuplakuiskaus (“Soapbubblewhispers”, text by Reetta Niemelä, Enostone 2023) was in turn selected as one of the picture book treasures of the year by the Ibby Finland magazine.

meriapalin.com