Camilla Mihkelsoo (born 1978) is a visual artist living and working in Sicily. She graduated with a master’s degree from the Academy of Fine Arts at the University of the Arts Helsinki in 2020 and previously from the Free Art School in 2014. Mihkelsoo paints women who seem to have descended from outer space. They step out of nostalgic science fiction films, visions of the future imagined in the past. They arrive from a time when smoking was linked with glamour and rebellion, seeking to appear both independent and dangerous. Alongside these figures, a cat often appears. With its gaze, movements, and presence, the cat perfectly matches the atmosphere of the paintings. It becomes a key to the inner world of the character—mysterious, unpredictable, and unyielding.
Mihkelsoo is particularly known for her portrait paintings and figurative expression. In recent years, she has created stage-like spaces in her works, where figures appear simultaneously close and distant, evoking questions of presence, absence, and collective experience. Her works have been exhibited widely in Finland and internationally, including in Berlin, Copenhagen, and Helsinki, and they are included in major Finnish collections such as the Saastamoinen Foundation and the Finnish State.