Birgit Pählapuu won silver award at the recent Toyama International glass exhibition with her work “Rebellion of the Flies.” Congratulations!

Eeva Käsper
IN SILENCE
HOP Gallery, Tallinn, May 17–June 11, 2024

Eeva Käsper’s exhibition In Silence opened at HOP gallery on May 17th, 2024.

Glass artist Eeva Käsper’s glass sculptures and mirror photographs summarise her work of the past year, with the small glimpses into the past. At the same time, the material for these works has accumulated over the past six years during which the artist has lived in South Estonia. She describes her daily life and creative process as follows:

Living in harmony with nature is different from urban life. It is being enchanted by natural phenomena and the seasons, both fearing and enjoying the power and inevitability. Everything is constantly changing, and yet I am always aware of how the cycle of nature repeats itself year after year. The photograph, as a record of a single moment in time, enables one to be in a state of flux through the reflections of glass and light in the gallery space, unfolding in many different ways. Evening light, patterns, traces, air, repetition. Peace of mind, silent drifting, pause, absorption, isolation. Beauty, contentment, clarity of senses.

Külliki Saldre has stated in one of the interviews: “Pause, silence, the opportunity to perceive what you are feeling – this is one of the most beautiful things. To listen what you are thinking.”
Pause and presence – for listening and contemplation, to reach closer to yourself.

Such sensuality is reflected in the interplay of light and artwork at the exhibition – and in the symbiosis of perception and superior craftsmanship in glass art.

Eeva Käsper graduated from the department of glass art at the Estonian Academy of Arts in 1998. After defending Master’s degree in 2003, she worked as an assistant and lecturer in the same department until 2015. She is one of the founders of the Klaasiklubi studio (2009) and the owner of Serene PLC glass studio in South Estonia (2018). Eeva Käsper has participated in exhibitions, conferences and symposia in numerous countries in Europe, as well as in Turkey and Korea. Her work has been recognized in several international competitions and has been acquired to the collections of institutions and private collectors.

Graphic design of the exhibition: Meelis Mikker
Exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Exhibitions in HOP gallery are supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Estonian Ministry of Culture and Liviko Ltd.
Thank you: Tsenter, Serene OÜ, Raimond Russak, Veiko Iliste, Hans-Otto Ojaste.

HOP gallery
Hobusepea 2, 10133 Tallinn
N–T 11.00–18.00
hopgalerii.ee

TᕼIᖇᔕT Iᑎ ᗷEᖇᒪIᑎ
Berlin Design Week 27.04.–5.05.
The inspiration behind the TᕼIᖇᔕT series is rooted in the metaphor of nurturing and growth. It symbolizes the act of watering aspects of life that are deserving of attention and cultivation. TᕼIᖇᔕT serves as a reminder to remain present, embrace abundance, and courageously pursue a life filled with purpose and meaning. Watering becomes a sacred ritual.
The series exemplifies the power of collective flow, craftsmanship, and creative vision, offering both functionality and aesthetic appeal in everyday objects.
Watering cans are the result of a collaboration with glassblowers Aleksandra Ehrensvärd and Martin Ehrensvärd from Stockholms Glasbruk studio in Sweden.
The visual aesthetics and conceptual composition are cultivated through a unique collaboration with photographer Triinu Kööba.

Erki Kannus
GLASS BODY
Okapi gallery
5-27.04.2024

Erki Kannus’s exhibition “Glass Body” explores the transformation of the intimate human body into a sterile glass object. The exhibit consists of two glass installations: an interactive sound instrument “Evening Milk” and “No Name – Time After” – a series of nudes drawn with hot glass.

“No Name – Time After” contemplates the fragility of the biological body, painting a dystopian picture of a post-nuclear-war world. Also included is a video of the artist’s creative/destructive process.

“Evening Milk” conveys a calm, almost pastoral late afternoon mood, where the ponderous sounds of a harmonica, the babbling of water, and the clinking of buckets can be heard. The audience can move organic-looking glass objects up and down in water, producing a meditative soundscape.

Sponsored by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

Simone Fezer / Kati Kerstna / Kai Koppel
CONFLATIONS
RaplaCounty Centre for Contemporary Art
7-31.03.2024

Conflation: the act or process of combining two or more separate things into one whole, especially pieces of text or idea.

The world is multi-faceted, with its plethora of opinions, viewpoints, cultures, races, religions, in various stages of amalgamation. Sometimes, it feels like there isn’t enough space to accommodate them all. In tight spots, as we collide with each other, we become aware that our perspective is not the only one; neither is it the only correct one. To continue our existence, we need to change – to choose whether to limit ourselves to our own bubble, or to react with force and violence, or, perhaps, try to understand and accept the possibility – and necessity – for different angles and strata.

Differences can enrich our world, make it more exciting and alive. Attempts at understanding can elicit bafflement, curiosity, recognition; if not always delight, then at least a peace of mind – a feeling of liberation that comes from allowing the world to be more than a monoculture made up of clones.

In our conflations, we study and reveal different strata (of culture? of existence?), their past and future, their interactions and confluences.

Simone Fezer is a German artist working with glass, performances and installations.

On extensive travels, she has worked as assistant to renowned artists and studied at various international schools such as the Penland School of Crafts, and Centro Studio Vetro in Italy. She had a residency at the Tacoma Museum of Glass in Washington, USA in 2016, and at Gallery S12 in Bergen, Norway in 2020. In 2019, she was awarded the Irvin Borowsky International Award of the University of Arts, Philadelphia. She has a Teaching Assignment for Sculptural Glass at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, Germany, and exhibits her mostly large-scale installations in Glass and Mixed Media nationally and internationally.
In her work, Simone Fezer addresses the fragility and interdependency of all life, and aims to create interdisciplinary and immersive environments. She likes to collaborate with other artists, bringing together installation, performance and multi-media, creating stages for the viewer to enter and explore. https://simonefezer.com/

Kai Koppel is a daring experimenter in the field of hot glass, working with the medium since 1975. Her early works included spatial glass objects. During the 1980s, as a young artist, she opposed the rational, geometric conventions of design with her own Dionysian method, based on the expressive randomness of hot glass. Instead of form following function, and contrary to consumerism, she drew inspiration from symbolic imagery, from nature, from ancient architecture; she became known for her large, columnar forms that took on the appearance of architectonics. She is a process-oriented artist for whom the physical involvement with the material and technology is essential. http://kaikoppel.ee/

Kati Kerstna is a socially sensitive artist with a focus on environmental topics. She likes to visualise her topics via the contradictory nature of glass. Walking the border between fragility and strength, playing with transparency, reflections, light and optics are some of her tools. Her creations are sculptural installations which draw attention to both space and form, and their illusoriness. She has been active as a curator whose endeavours have brought attention to Estonian glass art in the world. Currently, she is co-curating exhibitions of Baltic glass art. Together with Kai Koppel and Simone Fezer, she has contributed to the organisation of the Haapsalu hot glass symposia. http://katikerstna.ee/

Erki Kannus solo exhibition ROUTE66  is open at the Rapla County Centre for Contemporary Art from Feb 3 to 25.

Erki Kannus (1958) celebrates his 66th jubilee with this exhibition, displaying both very recent and very early paintings, drawings and objects.

The artist describes how the exhibition came together:
“In Spring 2023, I re-bought an old print of my own creation, that had been in the collection of Matti Milius, dissolved after the collector’s death. This is one of my earliest works ever displayed, from 1977 or ’78, and the only surviving work from that time. Back then, we used to be a group of art school graduates, enchanted by Constructivism and Suprematism. Leonhard Lapin was our great friend and mentor.
I have returned to those themes now and again, and now, finding inspiration from my past, I painted a whole new series.
I’m also a lifelong fan of Surrealism and the DADA movement. I’ve tried to understand the state of mind behind the creation of these works, to see what feeds the imagination. I’ve tried to find my own surreal visions, since I find this world relatable, attractive, and safe. Sometimes, I can make it work.

In the exhibition “Values,” the Estonian artist Kati Kerstna (b.1970) raises questions about what is truly valuable. How valuable, diverse, or poor would the world, or a specific environment, be if certain elements were missing? Or if there were more of them? Would existence even be possible at all?
Kati Kerstna is known for combining artistic expression and environmental advocacy, creating thought-provoking works using glass, light, and mixed media. Since graduating from the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2001, she has been featured in numerous international exhibitions, addressing themes such as environmental pollution, global warming, and deforestation through her innovative installations.
In S12, Kerstna presents the works Values 1 & 2, two large hands made of glass hanging from the ceiling, in the dark gallery space. The first work, Values 1, is about bees – Kerstna emphasizes that it may sound like a cliché, and we have all heard it many times before, but without bees, life would not be possible on this planet. Staying alive depends on the diversity of species. VALUES 2 presents the plants of the famous square meter of Laelatu wooded meadow, Estonia. In 2001, 76 different plant species were identified and recorded there, placing this square meter as the second most diverse in the world in terms of species richness.
Through this exhibition, Kerstna challenges viewers to reflect on the consequences of imbalance in natural biological diversity and its impact on life as we know it today.
On Saturday, February 10th, at 2:00 PM, there will be an artist talk with Kati Kerstna. In addition to discussing her own work, she will present a selection of Estonian glass artists.

Kateriin Rikken’s solo exhibition “Sip” is on display for the third time, at the Taltech Libary, from Jan 15 to Mid-March.

Kati Kerstna’s sole exhibition TENDER.FRAGILE.TANDER opened at the ArtDepoo Gallery on January 18. Open until Feb 18.

Prof. emeritus Maie-Ann Raun celebrates her 85th jubilee with the exhibition !By the Light of Glass” ath the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design.