KAARINA AHO | 1925–1990 | FINLAND
Kaarina Aho was a Finnish ceramic artist and designer, born into a distinguished cultural family. Her grandfather was the nationally celebrated writer Juhani Aho, and her grandmother was the artist Venny Soldan-Brofeldt.
After graduating from the Central School of Arts and Crafts, she joined Arabia’s product design department in 1946 as Kaj Franck’s first assistant. From 1949 to 1962, she worked as a designer, creating a wide range of products for the company.
In 1957, her BL model mocha cup received a Gold Medal at the Milan Triennale.
Early in her time at Arabia, Aho became dissatisfied with duties such as decorating mass-produced wares and offered her resignation. It was not accepted. Instead, she was given the opportunity to work across nearly every department in the factory, from the laboratory to the glazing section. The broad knowledge and technical skill she gained there became the foundation of her later work.
Alongside her work in product design at Arabia, she also made one-off thrown pieces and held her own exhibitions. After leaving Arabia in 1962, she continued working in her own studio, producing numerous works distinguished by their rich glaze surfaces.
