Still Life. Cherries and a Skeleton
Ketli Tiitsar, Kristi Paap.
From 11 August a joint exhibition by Ketli Tiitsar and Kristi Paap will be open at Tallinn City Gallery entitled “Nature Morte: Cherries and a Skeleton, Chapter III”, in which the artists will present the latest jewellery from their cycle of work “Nature Morte” started in 2015.
The opening will take place on Thursday 10 August at 6pm and the exhibition will be open until 10 September.
The French term for still life, nature morte, translated directly as “dead nature”, refers to the depiction of lifeless natural subject matter and other objects. Artists have woven many-layered narratives into their carefully considered compositions making use of the symbolic value of objects, animals and gifts from nature. For centuries nature morte or still life has offered artists much greater freedom than commissioned portraits or landscape paintings.
The exhibition project first presented by Ketli Tiitsar and Kristi Paap as part of the Munich Jewellery Week in 2015 and in book form in 2016, will be given a third life at Tallinn City Gallery. The joint exhibition grew out of Tiitsar and Paap’s long-term practice of using natural materials – various types of wood and the seeds of stone fruit – to create jewellery.
“Nature conceals forms and colours that delight me and I am eager to share them with others. Inspired by my collection of wood and the seeds of stone fruit compiled over many years, I choose the shape and rhythm of a piece of jewellery and then it creates itself,” says Kristi Paap describing her initial impulse. In her blossoms made using seeds, the beginning and end seem to exist together in the same moment.
Ketli Tiitsar works with wood – a common, widespread and familiar material, which “while rich in meanings and potential, may also be embarrassingly familiar and even boring,” she says of her favoured material. “It is difficult for me to use a material, which my parents and my friends’ parents have grown for so many years. Will the wood, which is many generations old, start dictating something after such a long process?”
The sound design for the exhibition was put together using sounds from wearing the pieces. The sound design is by Janek Murd, who studied at the department of metal art at the same time as the artists. Currently, Murd primarily works in the area of music.
The design of the exhibition space is the result of a collaboration with architect Andres Ojari.
The book “Nature Morte: Cherries and a Skeleton” will be on sale at the exhibition.
Ketli Tiitsar (b. 1972) and Kristi Paap (b. 1973) met more than 20 years ago while studying in the department of metal art at the Estonian Academy of Arts. They have been exhibiting since 1994 and both were members of the artist group F.F.F.F which was active between 1996 and 2005. They have organised exhibitions together as well as alone in Estonia and abroad.
We would like to thank: Estonian Cultural Endowment, Estonian Ministry of Culture, Tallinn Department of Culture, Veinisõber, Kuu Stuudio, Sadolin, Andres Ojari, Janek Murd, Tuuli Aule, Andres Ansper, Indrek Sirkel, Kaupo Kangur, Jaana Jüris, Alma, Dénes, Vahur.