Barbara Tieaho (b. 1944) has worked as an artist for over 50 years. She lives and works in Espoo. From 1988 to 2022, Tieaho worked in the Cable Factory's studio in Helsinki and actively participated in the exhibition activities for the artists of Cable Factory. She studied at the University of Art and Design Helsinki from 1970 to 1973 and at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts from 1976 to 1980.
Tieaho's first solo exhibition was held in 1983 at Gallery Tallivintti in Helsinki. She has participated in several group exhibitions in Finland and abroad, including in Sweden, Mexico, Iceland, Russia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Switzerland, and the USA.
Barbara Tieaho has organized more than 20 solo exhibitions and participated in around 70 group exhibitions at galleries and museums, including four group exhibitions at the Helsinki Art Hall. The artist has stated that she draws inspiration from architecture, nature, flora and fauna, theater arts, and literature, among other sources. She employs a wide range of techniques and materials in her art. Tieaho has created sculptures using bronze, wood, plastic, stone, concrete, recycled materials, and natural materials, both as individual sculptures and as installations.
In the early 2000s, Tieaho was inspired to use birch bark, cones, tree branches, and other types of wood in her works. More recently, Tieaho has created multimedia installations where dance has been a significant part of her work. She has been dancing for several years in the Cable Factory's amateur dance group.
In addition to the Finnish State Collection, Tieaho's works are found in many Finnish museums, cities, and art collections, as well as in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland. In 1989, Tieaho won first prize at an international sculpture event in Härnösand, Sweden, with her work "Friendship". In 1995, she was awarded the cultural prize of the city of Espoo. Tieaho has created several large permanent public works both in Finland and abroad.
In 1998, Tieaho organized a sculpture exhibition at the Cable Factory's Valssaamo in Helsinki for members of the Finnish Sculptors' Association. 23 artists participated in the event.
Video art has been important to Tieaho since the 1980s when four visual artists founded an artist group called BaCaSeMa. The group's first video work was shown at the Pelin gallery in Helsinki. Among Tieaho's video works, AV-arkki has distributed her first independent video work "Mountain”, which was recorded in Switzerland in 2003, the film "Five-Year Power Line" was completed in 2009, and the fictional short film "Bundle", which premiered in 2014. In addition to these, Tieaho has made four video works that have been shown in Finland and abroad. In January 2024, Tieaho's dance film "Ring Dance" was completed, which has so far been shown at the Flagship Library in Espoo and Yö Galleria in Helsinki.
Barbara Tieaho has had teaching assignments, for example, several years at various labor institutes and the Nylands Folkhögskola, as well as seven years at the University of Art and Design Helsinki.
Tieaho is a member of the following visual arts organizations: Association of Finnish Sculptors (honorary membership), Espoo Visual Artists Association, Helsinki Artists' Association, Cable Factory's Artists, Artists' Association MUU, AV-arkki ry, Artists' Group Dimensio, Espoo Artists' Guild, and Yö Artists' Association Yö. She has been awarded significant scholarships, including the state's 3-year artist scholarship from 1990 to 1992, two 1-year artist scholarships from the Swedish Cultural Foundation in 1985 and 2001, and the supplementary artist pension from 2005.