Professor Ritva Serimaa's portrait was unveiled on November 30, 2022, at the University of Helsinki. The portrait was added to Finland's largest portrait collection and is located at the Kumpula campus on the wall of the largest meeting room of the Department of Physics, known as "Kvantti."
I had the honor of creating Professor Serimaa's portrait, and it has been the largest commissioned work I have undertaken to date. The project took nearly two years from start to finish. Professor Serimaa was an exceptional physicist, and I wanted her portrait to reflect her as a person and her significance within the scientific community.
You can find more information about the portrait on the University of Helsinki's website at this link.
Ritva Serimaa (née Ström) (September 20, 1957, Hamina - April 12, 2016, Hamina) was a Finnish physicist and professor, the first female physics professor at the University of Helsinki. She completed her master's degree in 1982 and earned her doctorate in 1990, serving as a docent at the University of Helsinki from 1992.
I would like to thank the portrait committee for choosing me as the artist for this project. It was a pleasure working with all of you.
- Laura Peltonen -