Born and raised in Great Falls, Montana, Autio holds a BA from Montana State University and an MA from The University of Montana.  A former founding resident at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena along with her husband, Rudy, and ceramist Peter Voulkos, her work has been exhibited widely, including the faculty exchange of The University of Montana with the People's Republic of China in Hangchow (1983); Yellowstone Art Center (1986); Judy Chicago/Lela Autio at Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, Great Falls (1987);The Manipulated Thread at the Missoula Art Museum (1988); and the Missoula Artists' Exchange Exhibition in Oaxaca, Mexico (1989). Her work combines plastic, Plexiglas, cloth, vinyl and enamel into assemblages influenced by Abstract Expressionism