Cecilia Ebbe Belinskij

About the Artist

Cecilia Ebbe Belinskij (b. 1993, Hillerød, Denmark), a visual artist based in Helsinki, is interested in Christian art, colours and the rhythm in images. In her current works, which are often self-portrait-like, Ebbe Belinskij draws inspiration from the tradition of iconography while exploring her relationship with religious imagery and its themes. She paints, draws and sculpts. 

Exhibitions

BFA Exhibition 2025

12 September – 5 November 2025
Kuva/Tila

About the artwork

My work is inspired by icon art. Symbols, metaphors, and storytelling through them fascinate me. In this work, I reflect on the relationship between humans and symbols.

The moon and the sun, mother and son. The rooster that exposed Peter, and the ladder Jacob saw. The head of John the Baptist, the closed gate, the cross, and the fish. In a time before widespread literacy, images and symbols told stories and guided viewers toward the teachings related to them.

What happens to symbols when the world around them changes? A symbol appearing in icon art may predate Christianity, yet it can also be read through the lens of colonial history. A contemporary viewer may discover something entirely different in them – as I did when I recognized the face of my newborn child in the sun I had painted.

The figures first entered the space as wooden sculptures, before returning to paper, where they were reborn as something else. The eyes that recur through my works express my curiosity, wonder, and urge to explore.

These symbols no longer belong to anyone. They belong to all of us, and within them the viewer is reflected.