You Don’t Know How Beautiful You Are

Tuula Lehtinen’s You Don’t Know How Beautiful You Are is a mosaic composed of ceramic tiles painted with porcelain overglaze. Glowing in delicate shades of pink and purple, the work features indistinct motifs that evoke flowers and ornamental frames. In addition to its mosaic surface, the piece incorporates the text “You Don’t Know How Beautiful You Are,” inscribed directly onto the mirror. The work was custom-designed for the toilets at HAM Helsinki Art Museum as part of the renovation of the Tennis Palace and the expansion of the museum’s premises.

Mosaic is a technique built from countless small elements, and in Lehtinen’s hands this ancient method is reinterpreted through a contemporary lens. The work is based on photographs taken by the artist. Its surface resembles a pixelated digital image, with each tile corresponding to a single pixel. As in a pixelated photograph, the image resists clear legibility. Instead, the delicate, sensual, candy-coloured palette comes to the fore, enveloping the space in a soft, atmospheric glow.

The title of the work originates from small street stickers encountered by the artist while living in Bergen. Lehtinen noticed these stickers affixed to lampposts throughout the city, each bearing the message “You don’t know how beautiful you are.” The same phrase is recontextualised on the mirrored surface of her work. Visitors encounter the text as they look at themselves in the mirror, prompting a moment of self-recognition. Rather than encouraging critical self-scrutiny, the work invites viewers to regard their own reflection with warmth and empathy.

Tuula Lehtinen (b. 1956) is a printmaker and contemporary artist who lives and works in Tampere. Her practice reflects a sustained interest in the relationship between art and architecture, with many of her works engaging directly with questions of beauty and how it is experienced. Lehtinen has realised numerous public artworks in Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Alongside her artistic practice, she is the founder and head of the Frei Zimmer agency, which specialises in the production and coordination of public art. Lehtinen held a professorship at the Bergen Academy of Art and Design from 2007 to 2010, and her work has been exhibited widely in Finland and internationally.

The work belongs to the City of Helsinki’s art collection, which is managed and curated by HAM.