Eva-Liisa Isomaa was born in Ylitornio in 1956. She studied at Helsinki University of Art and Design (1979–1984) and the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki (1982–1987). She would later teach at that very school from 1990 to 1992, and has been teaching there since 2001. Later in life, she also studied video art between 2008 and 2009 and photography from 2009 to 2010 at Tampere University of Applied Sciences.
Thematically, memory and remembrance are at the core of Isomaa’s creative reflection. Naturally, a degree of private, personal history finds its way into her work. These personal elements are universalised through art that brings them into the public sphere. Time and narration are mixed in these artistic ideas. Water, a common metaphor for memory and the flow of time, holds a special place in her work. The drop, a moment or detail, enters a wider narrative, its flow and passing. Hence landscape is the genre Isomaa has felt most comfortable with in her more than 30-year career.
Isomaa received the Ars Arctica Recognition Award in 1986, the Pro Graphica First Award in 1989, the Prague Graphic Triennial First Award in 1989, the Hungarian Graphic Artists Award in 1999, and the Győr Art Museum Award in 2009. She was awarded five-year state artist grants in 1994, 2002 and 2010.
