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Helena Tääker

  • Fine Arts, Painting
  • BA
  • The window is just like then in flowers
  • Tutor: Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Mihkel Ilus
  • Installation of two series: “With flowers I, II” (Canvas, frame, flowers, polish) and “Reflections I, II, III” (Clay, acrylic, candles)

I see graduation as a culmination of personal experiences and growth. The installation created as my graduation work is both an account of the past and a celebration of this important event.

Cakes and flowers have adorned special moments since past times. But when the party’s over, the cake is devoured and flowers, after they’ve started to wilt, are thrown away. To retain the moment, I’ve crafted sculptural cakes and given a new life to flowers as a part of the piece. 

Flowers, just like people, are living beings – their bodies change in time. I see beauty in them, even if they aren’t in bloom. They represent past times and store memories. Giving them a second life in an artwork is for me a ritual. Transformation that passes without destruction. 

Three cakes refer to the years spent at the academy. Consisting of bodily fragments, they signify forming of the self. Throughout my studies I’ve had to give sense and decipher both myself and painting as such. Through taking both apart, I’ve always found something new, when bringing the discovered parts together. The cakes on the table reflect the unreason and pain of self reflection and unravelling. I’ve placed them in the foreground to not hide, but celebrate these experiences. 

I’ve set the canvas to the painting frame to fall like a drapery. By the means of the folds the painting as if transforms into a window, through which you could almost as if peek through. What will the future bring?

“The window is just like then in flowers” / Photo: Elo Vahtrik
“Reflections I, II, III” / Clay, acrylic, candles / Photo: Elo Vahtrik
“Reflections I, II, III” / Clay, acrylic, candles / Photo: Elo Vahtrik
“Reflection I” / Detail / Photo: Elo Vahtrik
“Reflection II” / Detail / Photo: Elo Vahtrik
“Reflection III” / Detail / Photo: Elo Vahtrik
“With flowers I, II” / Canvas, frame, flowers, polish / 2 x 100 x 120 cm / Photo: Elo Vahtrik
“With flowers I” / Detail / Photo: Elo Vahtrik
“With flowers I” / Detail / Photo: Elo Vahtrik
“With flowers II” / Detail / Photo: Elo Vahtrik