Bio
Ronya Hirsma is a photographic artist based in Helsinki, Finland. Her work explores social relationships, affective responses, and the contradictions that emerge in interpersonal situations. She is interested in the instability of perception and its relation to emotional experience. Drawing from everyday environments, Hirsma works with situations marked by irrationality, disorientation, or contradiction, often focusing on body language, gestures, and utilitarian objects. Within the photographic medium, she works with both analogue and digital techniques and also incorporates other materials, particularly metal.
Hirsma graduated with an MA in Photography from HDK–Valand Academy of Art and Design in Gothenburg in 2024 and also holds a Master’s degree from Aalto University’s Visual Cultures, Curating and Contemporary Art program. Her work has been presented in several solo and group exhibitions, including Saatchi Gallery (London), Liquida Photofestival (Turin), Pitted Dates (Helsinki), NEVVEN (Gothenburg), Photo Saint-Germain (Paris), and Fotocentrum Raseborg. Her work is included in the collection of the Hasselblad Center.
ronya.hirsma@gmail.com
@ronyahirsma
Education
2022
2018
2018
MA in Visual Cultures, Curating and Contemporary Art, Aalto University, Helsinki, FI
BA in Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Helsinki, FI
Exchange programme, Social and Cultural Anthropology, University College London, UK
Solo exhibitions
2025
2025
2024
2024
2024
Second Guessing Sentence, Galleria Uusi Kipinä, Lahti, FI
Second Guessing Sentence, Fotocentrum Raseborg, Karjaa, FI
Second Guessing Sentence, B-galleria, Turku, FI
Second Guessing Sentence, Galleria Rajatila, Tampere, FI
Arm’s Length Principle, Galleri Monitor, Gothenburg, SE
Selected group exhibitions
2026
2026
2026
2025
2025
2025
2025
2025
2024
2024
2024
2024
2023
2023
2022
Nuoret 2026, Helsingin Taidehalli (Kunsthalle Helsinki), Helsinki, FI (5–7/26)
TEOS 2026, Kaapelitehdas, Helsinki, FI
RPS International Photography Exhibition 166, Royal Geographical Society, London, UK
Turin Art Week 2025, Turin, IT
Let it be known, I am still here, Pitted Dates, Helsinki, FI
RPS IPE 166, Saatchi Gallery, London UK
TEOS 2025, Kaapelitehdas, Helsinki, FI
Liquida Photofestival, Liquida Grant, Polo del '900, Turin, IT
Kapitel #1, Studio Tabac, Stockholm, SE
A Potential Movement, a Movement’s Potential, and a Sudden Stillness, NEVVEN, Gothenburg, SE
Hot Shoe, Röda Sten Konsthall, Gothenburg, SE
Echoes, Secret Door Gallery, Gothenburg, SE
Last Week of Clarity, Galleri Format, Malmö, SE
No Red Thread, Galleri Monitor, Gothenburg, SE
I Want To Be Surrounded With, Beaux-Arts De Paris, Photo Saint-Germain, Paris, FR
Residencies
Writing
2021
Kulttuurilehti Mustekala
Press and publications
2025
2025
2025
2025
2025
2025
2025
2025
2025
2025
2025
2024
PHROOM, feature
Satakunnan Kansa, exhibition review
Helsingin Sanomat, exhibition review
Etelä-Suomen Sanomat, exhibition review
Yle, exhibition feature
Iconic Artist, article (Issue N.009)
Collater.al, article
Västra Nyland, exhibition review
Etelä-Uusimaa, exhibition feature
Länsi-Uusimaa, exhibition feature
Der Greif, feature
Göteborgs Posten, exhibition review
Works in collections
Grants and awards
2026
2025
2025
2025
2025
2024
2023
2021
The Paulo Foundation
Selector’s Spotlight, RPS International Photography Exhibition 166
Arts Promotion Centre Finland
Frame Contemporary Art Finland
Liquida Grant, Iconic Artist Prize
Adlerbertska Foundation
Adlerbertska Foundation
Patricia Seppälä Foundation
Memberships
2024
Kuvasto ry