Tuula Lehtinen: Illuminations

Tuula Lehtinen’s paintings transport us to the Baroque era – to salons and parlours draped in heavy folds of fabric that divide space, conceal and reveal, and create tension between the visible and the hidden. Her evocative handling of space and the luminous radiance of light infuse her works with a mysterious, almost theatrical atmosphere. Lehtinen’s art is a meditation on the relationship between light and space – on that fleeting moment of illumination when light animates the painting, completing the composition in a quiet gesture of revelation.

Lehtinen’s choice of subject matter is deeply rooted in her personal history. The daughter of a seamstress, she grew up surrounded by fabrics and garments. Her work reflects a profound respect for craftsmanship: fabrics and clothing are not merely visual motifs, but symbols of labour, skill, and creative freedom.

Beauty is a core theme in Lehtinen’s practice – yet her exploration of this theme is charged with contradiction and provocation. Traditionally equated with femininity, superficiality, or even deceit, beauty has long been contrasted with the masculine ideals of truth and intellect. Lehtinen subverts these conventions, seeking to liberate beauty from its inherited associations. In her hands, painting becomes an act of emancipation – a ritual of liberation for the artist herself.

Originally trained as a graphic artist, Lehtinen spent many years adhering to the strict technical discipline her medium required. Today, she has relinquished such constraints, allowing technique to serve the idea rather than dictate it. Freed from the need to “play by the rules,” she embraces the pure joy of creation as the driving force of her work.

Tuula Lehtinen (b. 1956) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki in 1980 and served as Professor at the Bergen Academy of Art and Design in Norway from 2007 to 2010. She has completed numerous public commissions across the Nordic countries and is currently working on a major mosaic for the National Museum of Finland. Her works are held in several prominent collections, including those of the Amos Anderson Fund, the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the Sara Hildén Art Museum, and the Röhsska Museum in Gothenburg. Lehtinen has held numerous solo exhibitions in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Germany. She lives and works in Tampere.