Laiya Uosikkinen is a legendary designer who created many masterpieces at ARABIA, a representative manufacturer of Scandinavian tableware.
(Photo: Uosikkinen when he joined ARABIA)
Uosikkinen was born in 1923 in Holola, a town in southern Finland. In 1947, he graduated from the Faculty of Art at Aalto University in Helsinki, the capital, and began working as a designer at ARABIA.
After that, Uosikkinen worked as an exclusive designer for ARABIA for 40 years until 1986, creating products such as the Emilia series, Ali, Doria, and Ahmed. In particular, the ear plates called Kalevala, which are produced every year during the Christmas season, were invented by her and have remained popular among many collectors to this day.
(Photo: The most valuable first year commemorative plate)
Uosikkinen often collaborated with Kai Franck, a senior designer at ARABIA. Kai Franck will be in charge of the form design, and Uosikkinen will provide the pattern design.
However, her masterpiece, the Emilia, was designed solely by Laiya and was produced between 1959 and 1966, making it a relatively short masterpiece. The name Emilia was taken from the name of her aunt who lived in the United States, and the pointillist depiction of a lady enjoying tea is said to depict the ideal American lifestyle. It gives a sense of Laiya's admiration for a life in a faraway country, far away from the life in Northern Europe.
(Photo: Uosikkinen's masterpiece Emilia)
The Ali series was produced between 1961 and 1973, and was brought to the world by the famous duo Kai Franck and Laiya. Ari is the last copperplate transfer work among ARABIA products. Copperplate transfer is a type of silk screen printing, in which ink is printed on a copperplate with a patterned design, the print is pasted onto ceramics, a thin layer of transparent glaze is applied, and the process is re-fired. .
(Photo: Beautiful blue ant imprinted with copperplate transfer)
(Photo: Doria from the same series as Ali)
Copperplate transfer work is extremely time-consuming as the craftsman applies ink over and over again. Therefore, in the 1980s, when cheap pottery became popular, ARABIA tried to reduce costs by using methods that omitted processes, such as simply pasting pre-made transfer paper or adding decorations with simple hand paint. I did.
Works created during that period include the Linnea and Pirtti series, but compared to the works of the Golden Age up to that point, the decorations were extremely simple and did not require much time and effort. It makes you feel like you are in a difficult time.
(Photo: Works from the 1980s have extremely simple pattern designs)
Even after Laiya Uosikkinen retired from ARABIA in 1986, he continued to live in the house right next to his company, and he happily invited the company's current designers and students from Aalto University to his home and gave them friendly care. It is said that while providing hospitality, he also provided guidance to younger generations.
(Photo: Uosikkinen in later years, holding the Kalevala series)
The reason why his masterpiece, the Emilia series, is said to have symbolized his longing for life in the faraway United States is because after World War II, Finland was not a wealthy country due to a series of periods of poverty. A certain kind of contradiction, in which many masterpieces were created in such a poor life, may be said to be a characteristic of mid-century Finland.
Laiya Uosikkinen, who was active in the ARABIA art department, left a lot of influence and is remembered by future generations.