The Nature of Nature 2 oil on plywood 2025

In this painting, a destructive giant rises above the forest and the meadow together with his strange companions. Just like Shiva – a devastating force without personal intention or guilt. At the same time, there is a kind of playful beauty in this chaotic movement: a reminder that decay clears the ground for a new order and a new birth.

Being a man is, of course, more familiar to me. I’ve felt the pressure that is placed on men myself, and I know how easily the “cork could fly off” sometimes and something ugly could happen. Luckily, over the years I’ve consciously worked on myself and tried to maintain mental balance. We’re not some kind of Terminators – we’re also caretakers and builders. There is a feminine side in men as well; without it, things would be very bad.

Living with three women, I learn the language of feminine energy every day. It is gentle and at the same time powerful – it creates and sustains, but when needed, it strikes like lightning. To me, women are mystics by nature: shamans, witches, magicians, seers. Something that remains beyond the grasp of reason – exactly like nature.

My own partner has strong “witchy traits”: a strong intuition, high sensitivity to energies, a strong connection with nature. On top of that, an excellent sense of smell and hearing. When we walk in nature, she often knows where an animal has recently passed through or whether someone is currently nearby.

The Nature of Nature 1 oil on plywood 2025

This artwork was not originally meant to be about women, but that’s how it turned out. From the abstract underpainting – the traces of smoke, paint drips and splashes – a figure slowly started to emerge, and around it a mood and a setting.

It became a portrait and a manifesto of the union between nature and feminine power.

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I will talk a little about one of my last oilpaintings born at the beginning of 2024, which I named “By the mountain lake”

Of course, we could talk more about the relationship between the paintings and their titles. This is always a bit of a problem for me personally. Sometimes giving a name to a painting is easy and the title even seems to be the only option, but often enough it is just the opposite. 

It has become a tradition that every child has a name, and of course it is also a practical matter. Who would bother memorizing everything, for example, according to the numbers in the order of birth.

The painting in question was named after the principle – less is more. Because the characters, forms and colors of the work were quite varied, the name arose from the central landscape image of the painting – a portrait of a meditating man against a mountain lake.

I actually don’t really like to explain the the subjects of paintings very much, and that’s why all the titles seem a bit redundant.

If my usual painting practice has always been, so to speak, from the central image towards the sides, here things went in the opposite direction.

First, the surrounding less important figures were born during the plywood burning practice, and only then did the central balancing and summarizing core of the painting begin to emerge.

I have to mention again in this article how excited I am about the new possibilities I discovered for myself when I started using the burning technique. hurray!

Since I myself have been experimenting with various meditation practices for many years and am deeply interested in the deepest secrets of consciousness, so the characters meditating and reflecting on life are also natural guests in my paintings.

As difficult as it is to talk about the experience of meditation, it is also difficult to put it into language of painting. Besides, every experience tends to be different. One thing is certain, that anyone who has tried to observe the mind will very quickly meet personal “demons”. “Demon” is, of course, a figurative word. A corresponding non-religious term could be “mental noise” or “compulsive thinking”.

The public response to the painting in question has been very impressive. It seems that no one is left cold “By the mountain lake” – which is of course a good thing. I really appreciate the feedback I receive on my art and I always observe with great interest the self-reflections of viewers standing in front of the works.

The painting is currently exhibited in the personal exhibition PuuSüü in the Tartu Art House Estonia

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It has been fourteen years (!) since the last personal exhibition in Estonia

After such a long break, one could feel uncertain about coming back to the Estonian art scene. Moreover, the opportunity to make the exhibition came unexpectedly, barely four weeks before the deadline. However, the feeling is quite strong. The Small gallery of the former hometown Tartu Art House is a familiar place and easy to manage due to its size of only 56m2. Rather, the anticipation is to see the entire existing new painting set as a whole in one room. In addition, I plan to approach the design of the hall in an innovative way for myself and expand the dimensions of the paintings slightly outside the frames.

Let`s see how this gonna turn out

The new approach to the painting technique has also brought new ideas in terms of exhibiting the artworks. However, you shouldn’t expect anything very experimental – I think that the paintings themselves must carry the exhibition by themselves and everything else should be in the role of a supporter.

The name of the exhibition is PuuSüü (Woodgrain). I’m sure you get the hint, I’ve collected my works painted on wood, or mainly plywood, for the exhibition. I probably started using plywood as a base material between 1998 and 2000. I fell in love with wood patterns for the first time when I painted the piece “Drunken Buddha”. At that time, one did not realize or could not see anything but a beautiful background pattern in these shapes. It is interesting that they remained haunted as a potential in the subconscious until today, when I have found an opportunity to “work” the woodgrain more concretely in my favor.

I also borrowed “Drunken Buddha” painted in 2000 from the Tartu Art Museum for the purpose of the exhibition. Respect to the person who at that time decided in favor of the purchase of this work. At the time, I didn’t think very much of this painting. By the way, in my opinion, the artwork has also gotten better over time. The background has been drawn a little darker and the patterns therefore show themselves more forcefully. Moreover, the Buddha has only been displayed at exhibitions a few times.

But come and have a look and I hope I can offer you an experience in any case.

Be happy,

Priit

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