Tuula Lehtinen graduated in 1980, and since then she has been an active agent for development in the world of art. In the year 1980 when Tuula Lehtinen graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, she made a trip to Egypt with her fellow students. On it, she encountered the multi-layered nature of Egyptian history and the presence of antiquity in the present day. A product of the Egyptian trip was a series of brown and black prints featuring pharaohs, gods, ancient cities, and architectural fragments.

 

The egyptian motifs in Lehtinen’s oeuvre were followed by works featuring the garden of her childhood home and pictures of tents and gardens inspired by her trips to Italy and Egypt. She produced pictures of gardens with palm trees and of tropical plants and birds. Gradually, the focus in Lehtinen’s art moved more and more towards Italy. She got to work in prestigious Italian printing studios. From her journeys, Lehtinen has brought back new ways of printmaking and working methods to Finland.

 

Tuula Lehtinen uses in her art all kinds of materials, from paper to porcelain. Her techniques, from painting through printmaking and porcelain painting to padding, embroidery, ceramic casting, and mosaics, bring their own level to the artworks’ substance. The works subtly speak of genders and the conceptualization of aesthetics thought as feminine.