Katja Tukiainen’s (b. 1969) is a visual artist who paints and builds installations. Her primary language is painting, and her basic color is pink. With her cute, strong and quick-witted girls, bright oil colors and eloquent brush strokes, she talks about serious matters. She paints her slogans to change the world and her dreamy landscapes for anyone to step in. Her art borrows from and mixes popular culture themes with art history, children's culture, politics, and propaganda. The inspiration for her work may rise as easily from a toy as from a glossy photo or a provocative subject from current events. The outcome combines these different sources. Tukiainen’s work is characterized by her use and unification of different techniques. Her art eludes strict classifications.
Katja Tukiainen, who is known as a painter as well as a comics artist, graduated with a Master of Arts in Art and Design and a Master of Fine Arts from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts. Tukiainen debuted in 2001 with her narrative paintings at the Finnish Artists' Youth Expo and the Finnish Artists’ 106th exhibition. Katja Tukiainen received the State Award as the first comics artist in 2007, as well as a William Thuring Award in 2011. The Finnish Comics Society Puupäähattu-award was in given to Tukiainen in 2003. The artist lives and works in Helsinki.