2025 Finalists

There is nothing hidden behind these faces and gestures, no domain to which I have no access, merely a little shadow which owes its very existence to the light.
– Maurice Merlau-Ponty, The Phenomenology of Perception

The artwork is a part of my graduation work at the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) and shares its title with other works of the same series. The series in question contains large format charcoal paintings (more on that later), drawn from the imagination and realised in what I hope to be a productive tension between the figurative and non-figurative. The artwork explores unresolved emotions and the uncertainty of whether it is better to stay close to the light or the shade. The ambivalence of the images reflects an inability to understand oneself, as well as a hesitant attitude towards one’s urges and desires. The paintings were presented at TASE 25 in a black box exhibition space, lit by spotlights and attached to the wall by a row of small nails at the top and two at the bottom. I am open to other installation solutions as I’m keen to see the work in different lighting conditions. As to the (possible) inclusion of what are ostensibly charcoal drawings in a competition dedicated to painting I would ask the jury to reflect on the ever murkier distinctions between traditional hierarchies in art. For my part I should explain that my thinking revolves around painting and the history of the painted image, therefore I see my work belonging to that same lineage of image making. This series in particular owes a debt to baroque painting and post-war abstraction. The DNA of the work is I believe painterly and seeks dialogue with painting and not drawing. In this respect I understand Robert Longo when he says that he “wants to compete with painting.” I hope you will afford me this possibility.

(9/25)