Scan Magazine – August 2018

106 | Issue 115 | August 2018

Scan Magazine | Artist of the Month | Finland

Finnish artist Katja Tukiainen is unashamedly altruistic, creating works that depict
adventurous girls brimming with positivity.

By Hanna Heiskanen | Photos: Katja Tukiainen

The many shades of pink have been the
colour of choice for contemporary artist
Katja Tukiainen for more than 20 years.
Where many would simply see the favour-
ite colour of girls everywhere, Tukiainen
sees a myriad of charged meanings. “I
adopted pink for my art after returning
to Finland from the Venetian Academy of
Fine Arts. As an artist, colour is hugely
important, and I didn’t want to be limit-
ed by the traditional oil painting colour
scheme,” Tukiainen says. “I see pink as
a political colour, too. There are so many
variations of pink that I don’t think I could
ever tire of it!”

The recurring theme in Tukiainen’s works
is girls. The roots of GIRL GANG go back to
putting together ragdolls with her grand-

mother as a child. At first, the girl as a

motif was a way to perceive that there are

no limits to being female. As student and

professional artist, the theme of feminini-

ty expanded to cover other people and the

world as a whole. “I quickly noticed that

my girls really spoke to people. Viewers

understand that they become more than

just representatives of their own gender:

men too, can see themselves in them.”

Tukiainen works intuitively, based on

her own personality and the values with

which she grew up. She enjoys basing

her art on historical paintings: a GIRL is

not a four-letter word is an adaptation

of Rubens’ The Rape of the Daughters

of Leucippus. In Fusion, a group exhibi-

tion at the Nordic Watercolour Museum

Pink thinking

in Skärhamn, Sweden, she collabo-

rates on a mural in an exciting new way

with Icelandic colleague Sigga Björg

Sigurðardottir. Whatever the medium,

for Tukiainen, art is “my mother tongue

and way of existing.”

Web: http://www.katjatukiainen.com

Instagram: @katja.tukiainen

Where to see Katja Tukiainen’s art:

• Fusion, a group show at the Nordic
  Watercolour Museum, Skärhamn,
  Sweden, until 30 September.


• GIRL GANG, a series of unique
  ceramic sculptures at Arabia Art
  Department Society and Iittala &
  Arabia Design Centre in Helsinki,
  Finland, from 30 August.


• Solo exhibition at Makasiini
  Contemporary, Turku, Finland, 23
  November 2018 – 6 January 2019.

Artist of the Month, Finland

Left: Laura, 18 x 14 x 8 cm, from a series of unique ceramic sculptures, GIRL GANG, Katja Tukiainen, 2018. Middle: Katja Tukiainen in her studio in Helsinki, 2018.
Top right: Obey the GIRL, 200 x 200 cm, oil on linen, Katja Tukiainen, 2017 (from a private collection). Below right: a GIRL is not a four letter word, 150 x 150 cm, oil
on linen, Katja Tukiainen, 2018.