Anna-Liisa Vertanen lives and works in Finland. Annu studied painting, but after her studies became increasingly attracted to printmaking, first as a means to translate her color use from her paintings, but then as an autonomous art form. Her experimentation and research with oil-based and water-based woodcuts, such as mokuhanga, which sometimes lead to room-filling installations, have been awarded several times both in Finland and abroad. Annu currently teaches at the Fine Arts Academy in Helsinki and is also head of the international section of the IMA, International Mokuhanga Association, in Japan.