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 ai ...

and comic artist. She was the regional artist of Uusimaa 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 Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

s, drawings,

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

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 region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

. 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 on ten occasions to work for Dalit 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