Name: The moss people: Kim Simonsson’s sculptures
Uploaded: 2026-01-15T15:07:13.238Z
Duration: 4 min 25 s
Description: Finnish artist Kim Simonsson and his fantastical forest-dwellers pay homage to the stunning beauty of the natural world.

Finnish artist Kim Simonsson and his fantastical forest-dwellers pay homage to the stunning beauty of the natural world.

Helsinki

Finnish sculptor Kim Simonsson is known for his moss people sculptures, which are inspired by Finnish mythology and the natural beauty of the forest. Originally commissioned for the 2022 Art Biennale in Lyon, these green, fairy-like figures are now displayed at a museum west of Helsinki, created from clay and incorporating recycled personal objects.

Simonsson crafts his sculptures in Fiskars, a Finnish design hub, and his works are exhibited in galleries worldwide, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He hopes his moss people provide comfort to viewers, reflecting both his artistic vision and a commitment to sustainability through the reuse of everyday items.

The moss people: Kim Simonsson’s sculptures

These green giants emitting eerie sounds stand in the middle of the forest nearly 200 kilometers west of Helsinki, Finland. You might also find this man nearby. Hi, I'm Kim. I'm the artist who make these creatures, these fairies that inhabit the Finnish forests. I love to sculpt, so to be able to do it full time has been my dream. Sculptor Kim Simonsen is enchanted by Finnish mythology and nature. Both are closely intertwined in the Finnish DNA. He has named his green, fanciful creatures moss people. We'll find out later how he creates them. They are definitely inspired by the forest. They are inviting people and saying, like, this is the most beautiful part of this earth. Especially forest is the most beautiful part of Finland. These forest giants were originally commissioned for the 2022 Art Biennale in Lyon, France. Now they're on the property of a deceased Finnish art patron whose former summer house is now a museum. The historic rooms contain a variety of Kim Simonsen's artworks. This is my children's old toy. And then there's some other things. This is my old glasses that I had in the workshop. And then there is some, like, cassette tape that is my father's old cassette tape. So all these kind of objects here have a personal connotation to me. And then it's kind of recycling, you know. Instead of throwing in the trash, I put them in the sculpture. I'm like an alchemist, turning it to green gold. His sculptures are in galleries and museums worldwide, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Private collectors pay up to 35,000 euros for them. They take form here in the small artist colony of Fiskars, a hub of Finnish design an hour from Helsinki. Kim's studio is in a former factory building. When I was a teenager, I became, I wanted to be a painter for sure. And then I didn't get into the painting school on the first try. And the next year I missed the deadline for the application. And then I decided, OK, I apply to this design school. And I realized that this is, sculpting is for me the most natural thing, much more natural than painting. And then I stopped painting. When I started, yes, clay wasn't really taught as a very serious contemporary art material, especially not for sculpting. It was seen a little bit like a feminine material, but it's not necessarily a bad thing, because I think in art it's good to be also sensitive. Clay is like an amazing material. It is, it can go into whatever shape you want. The good thing is when you put the weight, then you kind of, you get this, the weight happens on the legs too, so it gets like a natural weight thing. The sculptures are fired at 1,150 degrees for 12 hours. After the clay cools, Kim coats the surface with resin, then dusts it with nylon fiber. The green hue came about by chance. I put this neon yellow on a black sculpture, and then it suddenly turned into this very strange green color. And then somebody came to my studio and said, that looks like moss. It's important to, obviously, to believe in yourself and just keep on working. Be brave and just show your work, and then maybe the right person might see it. Well, I would like to make these figures that are friendly. Kind of giving, possibly, comfort to people in these hard times that we are living in. And the chances of that are growing, as his family of moss people grows as well.

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