Merike Estna

Merike Estna (born in Estonia 1980) lives and works in Tallinn, Estonia. She has graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts with a Bachelorʼ s degree in painting and from the Goldsmiths College, University of London, in 2009 with the Masterʼ s degree in art practice. The work of Merike Estna is largely invested in the processes of painting, as a way of approaching the artwork as an integral part of life rather than about life. In her process-based work, Estna is embedding patterns and colour combinations from the crafts and applied arts, which have not traditionally been accepted in the visual language of painting. Thus, her work is challenging the masculine territory of painting and questioning the strict visual separation between painting and craft discourses. Initially subjecting canvases to such patterns and application-based treatments, Estna gradually progressed to cover clothes, objects and entire spaces with cottonwool colours, gradually expanding her research into colour and the acts of painting, the possibilities of experiencing and looking at things.

Selected projects: “WINTER IS COMING (Homage to the Future)“ curated by Maria Arusoo, Georg Kargl Fine Arts (Vienna, Austria 2016); “(In)visible dreams and streams“ curated by Maija Rudovska, CAC (Vilnius, Lithuania 2016); Ghostbiker, solo, Wot No, London Centre for Book Arts (London, UK 2016); “Nomadic Images” curated by Linas Liandzbergis, XVI Vilnius Painting Triennial (Vilnius, Lithuania 2016); “Memorial” solo, Estonian Embassy (London, UK 2016 – 2017); The seed can be initialized randomly, duo with Ana Cardoso, Murias Centeno (Porto, Portugal 2016); (Not) Every Thread Ties Down / Your Split Ends Are Showing curated by Leo Cohen and Lucy Rollins, DKUK (London, UK, 2016); Freundschafsspiel, curated by Didem Yazici, Museum für Neue Kunst Freiburg (Germany, 2016); DOMESTICMINDCRAFT, solo, Karen Huber Gallery (Mexico City, Mexico 2016); part of series of events “El Cuarto de los Ojos Sucios“ performance, Biquini Wax (Mexico City, Mexico 2016); Corporate Jungle, solo, Temnikova & Kasala gallery (Tallinn, Estonia 2015); Genialmythcraft, solo, Palermo Galerie (Stuttgart, Germany 2015); Better become blowing backbeat blanket, installation, XMarks the Bokship, Matts Gallery (London, UK 2015); Blue Lagoon, solo, KUMU Art Museum (Tallinn, Estonia 2014); So Soft/+ Pure, solo, SmallProjects gallery (Tromso, Norway 2014); V/P: Video and Painting in a relationship, group ,Solyanka State Gallery (Moscow, Russia 2014); She was awarded Konrad Mäe prize, Estonia, 2014 and has been teaching at the Estonain Art Academy as visiting professor since 2013. Her works in public collections include: Kumu Art Museum, Estonia; Tartu Art Museum, Estonia; Loviisa City Collection, Finland.