Katja Maarit Tukiainen (born 1969) is a Finnish visual artist,

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

and comic artist. She was the regional artist of

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, ...

from 1999 to 2001 and the 2003 winner of the Finnish Comic Society's annual Puupää Award. She received the Finnish State Prize for Design in 2007, and th
William Thuring Prize of the Finnish Art Society
in 2011. Tukiainen works with site-specific narration. She changes her medium according to what best suits the content of her artwork: paintings,

comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

s, drawings, animation and sculptures. Her works are recognizable by their joyful colours (especially pink and magenta), sympathetic figures, and expressive style, and can deal with themes of daily politics, sorrow, or longing as well as dreams, love, and peace. Tukiainen holds a Master's of Art degree from the University of Art and Design Helsinki and a Master's of Fine Arts degree from the Academy of Fine Arts (Finland), and has studied painting in the Academy of Fine Arts of

Venice, Italy Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. After graduating, she worked for six months in

Mazzano Romano Mazzano Romano is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about north of Rome. Mazzano Romano borders the following municipalities: Calcata, Campagnano di Roma, Castel Sant'Elia, Fal ...

, Italy, and has travelled to

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

on ten occasions to work for

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming a ...

human rights. Katja Tukiainen's paintings have been purchased into various prestigious collections in Finland and her comics have been published in several international anthologies. She is married to her colleague, Matti Hagelberg, and they have one child.

Publications

Artist monographs: * KATJA TUKIAINEN WORKS PART TWO ( 2008 - 2013, articles: Riiko Sakkinen, Katja Tukiainen, Raul Zamudio, languages: English and Finnish, 216 pages, Parvs Publishing 2013) * KATJA TUKIAINEN WORKS ( 1999 - 2007, articles: Timo Valjakka, languages: English, France and Finnish, 112 pages, Daada kustannus 2007)

References

External links

Katja Tukiainen's official site
Finnish female comics artists Finnish women painters 1969 births Living people 21st-century Finnish women artists Finnish painters Finnish comics artists Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture alumni {{cartoonist-stub