Tiina Salo-Devries is a Finnish artist and teacher living and working in Mississauga. She likes to work on her own art projects and teach students of all ages and levels. Her education credentials, BA and Specialization Studies in arts and crafts, are from Finland as well as her Vocational Teachers’ Training.
From 1988, Tiina has sustained an active record of exhibitions both locally and internationally such as Florence Biennale in Italy and solo exhibitions in Dubai, UAE. She has taken part in international art camps and symposiums in Europe. Her artworks have been integrated into public spaces such as city halls, banks, and collections. As a founder of an artist’s group Liite in Finland, she has made installations, exhibitions, and performances. Additionally meantime, Tiina has given many lectures and workshops in arts, crafts, and design.
After moving to Canada in 2016, Tiina has actively been exploring Canadian art and taking part in various exhibitions. From the 2019 exhibition “In the wild” at Beaux Arts Brampton, she received the First Place Award. In addition, in the 2022 Halton & Peel Juried Exhibition in Joshua Creek Arts Centre, she received a certificate of excellence for her painted textile collage.
Tiina´s inspiration and theme of work evolve around the study of natural elements, light and color, found objects, and human spirits. Tiina´s philosophy is inspired by the fact that art is an endless learning endeavor. Travelling and living in different countries has giving her a new perspective to her own background and culture. New cultural influences are filtered and accompanied with important themes from the past in her artworks. Her artworks have both symbolic and surrealistic elements. She does not give answers, she raises more questions, and she wants to lead the viewer onto the thinking journey. For the most of the time she paints with acrylics on canvas, paper, and textile collages.
Tiina is now an art instructor in Visual Arts Mississauga and a principal and teacher in the Toronto Finnish Language School.