{"id":63495,"date":"2026-06-05T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kuvittajat.fi\/?post_type=news&#038;p=63495"},"modified":"2026-06-05T12:39:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T09:39:28","slug":"illustrator-of-the-year-2026-is-armi-teva-a-boldly-venturous-creator","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/kuvittajat.fi\/en\/news\/illustrator-of-the-year-2026-is-armi-teva-a-boldly-venturous-creator\/","title":{"rendered":"Illustrator of the Year 2026 is Armi Teva, a boldly venturous creator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section id=\"acf-block-6a26583f8fc45\" class=\"block block-content-wrapper container-fluid \">\n    <div class=\"container\">\n        <div class=\"row\">\n            <div class=\"col-12 col-lg-6 offset-lg-3\">\n                <div class=\"entry-content\">\n                    <div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n\n<p><strong>Armi Teva<\/strong> (b. 1992 in Tampere) has been chosen as Illustrator of the Year 2026. The award is presented annually to an illustrator or group of illustrators who have promoted or represented the field in a significant way. The award cannot be applied for, and it comes to the recipient as a surprise. This year, the expert jury has decided to honour a boldly venturous creator, who inspires many others. The newly announced Illustrator of the Year describes receiving recognition from within the field as &#8220;absolutely incredible&#8221;.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Armi Teva&#8217;s work encompasses ceramics, illustration, sculpture and public art. Her rich and playful style brings a smile to viewers&#8217; lips, and her work can be seen as part of a long tradition of Finnish illustration and design. Teva\u2019s clients include Arabia, Fiskars, Lapuan Kankurit and the City of Helsinki, and she has collaborated with professionals ranging from architects to musicians. Teva works intuitively and is passionate about drawing. She&#8217;s been inspired by classic ceramicists <strong>Rut Bryk<\/strong>, <strong>Birger Kaipiainen<\/strong>, <strong>Esteri Tomula<\/strong> and <strong>Raija Uosikkinen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Human figures have been a part of Teva&#8217;s journey from the start. She created her first ceramic reliefs featuring faces for a school fair ten years ago. Over the years, her popular <em>Faces<\/em> have delighted audiences at venues such as the Lokal Gallery and Artek store. Teva is also skilled at scaling her work to large sizes and advocates for the value of art as part of everyday life. <em>Hakaniemen helmet<\/em> (&#8216;Pearls of Hakaniemi&#8217;), illustrated during her studies at Aalto University, continue to add colour to the cityscape at the Hakaniemi metro station. Currently in progress are public art projects for daycare centres in Kaskenm\u00e4ki (Turku) and Latokartano (Helsinki).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The jury found that Teva\u2019s distinctive style evokes a desire in the viewers to grasp something tangible in contrast to artificial intelligence. At their best, craftsmanship and interdisciplinary art serve as a response to the world\u2019s challenges, with experts from different fields entering each other\u2019s spheres of influence with an open mind. The jury also commended Teva\u2019s ability to generate her own work. Like many contemporary illustrators, she uses social media as a tool and advertising space to direct buyers to her online store.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"oembed oembed-vimeo\">        <div class=\"consent-placeholder\"             data-category=\"cookie_cat_marketing\"              onClick=\"CookieConsent.renew()\">             <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.vimeocdn.com\/video\/2165133757-000ae480f317fb45860cd80c651edb0f5bf65ad75284a5b005817e1f16517afe-d_640?region=us\">            <div class=\"text-and-button\">            <p class=\"consent-text\">You have not accepted marketing cookies to view the video.<\/p>            <div class=\"wp-block-button\">                 <button class=\"wp-block-button__link\">Change cookie settings<\/button>            <\/div>            <\/div>        <\/div><iframe title=\"Armi Teva \u2013 Vuoden kuvittaja 2026\" src=\"\" data-consent-src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1198515795?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" data-category-consent=\"cookie_cat_marketing\" width=\"880\" height=\"495\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This year\u2019s expert jury consisted of Illustrator of the Year 2025 <strong>Pauliina Holma<\/strong>, Tammi\u2019s graphic designer <strong>Laura Lyytinen<\/strong>, illustrator <strong>Rakastaja Robert<\/strong>, Head of Exhibitions at the Architecture &amp; Design Museum <strong>Suvi Saloniemi<\/strong> and art and cultural historian <strong>Hanna-Reetta Schreck<\/strong>. Producer <strong>Veera Jalava<\/strong> acted as secretary of the jury. The awarded sum and the video portrait of the winner created by <strong>Silja Minkkinen<\/strong> are funded by copyright royalties collected by Kopiosto.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The newly crowned Illustrator of the Year dreams of doing more textile or pattern design in the future. \u201cI feel like I still have loads of patterns in my head to draw on,\u201d she explains.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Armi Teva\u2019s works are currently on display at the Young Artists 2026 exhibition at Kunsthalle Helsinki.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/drive\/folders\/1Watda7_9JjI_FHgApCdDE_Bsj8D5vcTB?usp=share_link\">Media images<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/armiteva.com\/\">armiteva.com<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/kuvittajat.fi\/palkinnot\/\">More info about the awards presented by the Association<\/a> (in Finnish)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Further information and interview requests:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Veera Jalava, Producer, Finnish Illustration Association &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>veera.jalava@kuvittajat.fi&nbsp; tel. 044 775 0509<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Illustrator of the Year award, which is worth \u20ac10,000 and awarded annually by the Finnish Illustration Association, has been given to Helsinki-based Armi Teva, known for her ceramic \u201cFaces\u201d reliefs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2045,"featured_media":63747,"template":"","categories":[112],"class_list":["post-63495","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Illustrator of the Year 2026 is Armi Teva, a boldly venturous creator | Kuvittajat 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