I am finished too. Took new photos tonight(the one here is just for you). Tomorrow morning, first thing to the post office.
I like you finished work very much! I shall write more soon.
With love from awfully snowy Tallinn,
Ketli
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ketli, here it is Dear Ketli, Yes life always presents things at times we cannot use them or so we think. I liked that we both had the idea to work with wood. And also that you were thinking of not making the pendants look heavy as I did. I thought I was ready, but as I looked at the work while making pictures for the cataloque I decided to change it and made it look more heavy. I hope your daughter is feeling better and you will find the time to finish the piece. Although it was not always easy I really liked the rhythm we got into and hope we will continue after this will end. Unfortunately I am not able to go to Mexico anymore. but hope we will meet soon somewhere else. Thank you
Dear Chequita, I am sorry for the little break again, we established such a good rhythm, but my daughter got sick and last days have been really hard. Your images show similarity in our thinking for me. It is really interesting to follow how from quite different points of view we have developed some kind of common ground for our current work. I like your little talisman bags, they resemble tea bags a little bit, with their transparency. All tea are made from the same species of plant, from the same leaves. I find it very captivating that one plant gives so many different tastes. Tea is my favorite beverage. And the way you have attached the little symbols to wooden details is very poetic, I like the dynamic and natural order with strings. I am just amazed how similar way we work. First I also tried to hang my drops exactly the same way with string you did. But my strings got so badly messy that it took me long time to solve the order. About my work. This is the photo I plan to send for the catalogue. With the search of symbol for my work I chose different types of wood, mostly from Estonia. I find them bearing strong narratives within their texture. Drop is like vertical distance reaching deepness. Act of falling, loosing, gaining. First I saw all these drops in one piece, like a heavy burden. Now I started to doubt in this heaviness. Set of separate pins would be perhaps better solution. My hands are tied, I know there is absolutely no time left, and my baby is sick but… Tomorrow the only chance, to fix this as I want to post the work on Thursday morning. I certainly will try. I will show you the result. As soon you feel you are reaching something, things change and new perspectives appear. With making jewellery isn’t it always so? Are you planning to attend the conference in Mexico City? Talk to you soon, K
Still not ready. Contemplating about unknown and known places…. Dear Chequita, just now I saw your replay for the last letter. I loved your comment about the Estonian city names, I haven’t thought about the similarity of foreign words with exotic food names. I shall continue and keep you posted. I have really intense period in the museum right now too. We are going to take down the triennial and build up our permanent display. These are my major projects, happening every third year, therefore, everything takes extra long time for me now. All the best, Ketli Hi Ketli, These words to me sound like ingredients of dishes. Or like spices. But that is a problem I have to me a lot of words reminds me of Food! I am working on some new pendants. Also found some mexican symbols, but I will use mostly Surinam symbols perhaps combining them with Dutch symbols. Will sent you pictures tomorrow. Thank you for sharing your images and sending the comments. An interesting piece you made out of paper. I also found interesting to see your ring. Your pieces remained me of relics. Some things with a certain meaning but for people with different cultural background they could be interpreted in many different ways. I am glad you liked the idea of pendants, I am still working with one. I am very slow with my work. The process itself brought up many ideas and now when it is time to finish it takes more time then ever expected. I guess it is also very natural. Carrying in my head idea about rings marking different spots in Estonia and Suriname. Names, may sound just poetic and completely disguarding. I find names of the Suriname cities- Paramaribo, Apoera, Tepoe, Moengo, Jenny and Apetina very beautiful and even a bit mysterious. I have to admit, that while starting with this project, I was kind of confused while getting to know that Chequita you are from Suriname, which in the map inside of my little brains was a country in Africa . Who ever I asked from my friends they all were also convinced that Suriname is in Africa. It is really embarrising, but nobody could explain why we all thought so. There were two of my friends who related Suriname with Asia too, but nobody guessed that it is in South America. As you see this experience has really changed my world. I hope to post some pictures tomorrow. Best greetings and good luck with your work, PS! We really have no time left, isn’t it so, that works have to arrive to Holland for next Monday? UH! Ketli, porcelain hearts where the intention was to integrate some symbols. I have been working on this,because the idea about making a necklace that is heavy due to the pendants carrying the symbols of our country is quiet beautiful. It should be a lot of pendants But think it could be from another material wood perhaps, or silver? So now I am working on silver pendants with shadows of symbols. Like the one I did in paper. This is the ring I made with the dust beater symbol going on …….. I am not able to get any images on due to an internal error . put them on later Ketli, like the idea of heavy hanging pendants, I was already making little pendants but a lot in porcelain and was thinking of making pendants in metal or wood which have the shadow of different kind of symbols. A Necklace with a boundance of hanging symbols. The Necklace you sent with all the wooden tags and symbols is also inspirational. I will try connect to this. Dear Chequita, it was really great to see your ideas in progress and I find it very interesting what you told about the braided carpet beater. And the fact that you can say that In Surinam most of the people have the same ring made me really curious. Did I miss the image of this ring? I guess only wedding rings have such a wide popularity here in Estonia. I am thinking about hanging things down, so I am more moving towards the pendants. I will keep the idea of rings in my mind, maybe… Your origin like a weight you carry on your neck. It can be light and heavy. If I think about culture and cultivation, I also think about weed-a plant considered undesirable, unattractive, or troublesome growing where it is not wanted. I have seen dandelions coming through asphalt roads. Different layers with different meanings, shapes and materials. Wood, birchbark, found objects. It is still very much in the progress.
Heart shape is inspired from you, I have never used heart, and I am still not sure, if I am going to use this one either I wanted to share an other image with you.
Wooden property marks- very typical to west-coast of Estonia. Fishermen attached them to the fishing nets so they would not get mixed with others. Also in case they were lost, after these signs they were returned to the owner. (Photo is from the museum display, therefore they hang this way). PS! You have forgotten to put your posts under our space. You can edit your posts also afterwards and simply after opening your post again go to the categories and tick the box in front of our names. Ketli, forgot the word” hammered” I did this with the piece of wood. And here a not so good picture of the “matteklopper” as a pendant. Hello Ketli, I thought it was interesting to see the infrastructure of both our countries. Which in a way are very similar. I am working on rings because in Surinam almost everybody has the same ring as I said, My idea was perhaps we could make a series of rings or pendants which have symbols joined on them or engraved. The picture I sent is of a how did you call it hand… for dust. But in Surinam its stands for strenght and is used in a lot of ways. Here are some pictures of the work I started but now am bussy with the rings have no good picture yet because of a broken camera have to get a new one. I also have a picture of some wood I Today when I looked at the images I sent you yesterday, I felt I have to explain a bit as it is quite far from symbols we talked about last time. If you look at some images, regardless your nation, culture or place you live, they are easy to perceive, but this does’nt have to be necesserily their only meaning. Therefore I sent you these images(I was working with them for something else too). First this agricultural system, what looks probably quite similar for the ones used in your country. But it can also be percived as scheme made after aerial photo or just a dynamic drawing. Second pictue have strong characteristics of its decade and actually makes the subject(miners life) less important. Quite the same thing is with looking at things while you are abroad. People might use the images you know well as characteristic for certain themes in completely different context. When you do not know the language of the country you temporarily are living in, lots of interesting miss haps can happen. Also while translating complicated texts from foreign language, you actually create your own parallel texts with a new meanings. I remember once, that years later when the same book was translated into Estonian I was really disappointed because I interpreted the text so differently from the original. Last week we had the opening of really interesting international exhibition in the KUMU Art Museum-”Let’s talk about nationalism! Between ideology and identity.” You can read their online catalogue here. And I am looking forward to see your new work. I hope to shear my experiments soon too. All the best, Ketli Dear ketli, I am also working on some things which I am trying to photograph. we could have some chats by skype to boost things up. I am also sending you some maps of Surinam and the plant-ages they had there and how they were situated. I am working on some rings who are very common in Surinam. Every body in Surinam has a ring like the symbol of something which is known to many people(see picture.) I think this is very interesting just like the map that when you look at it there are common grounds even though the cultures are different. We can skype, but perhaps I can sent you my skype name somewhere else, because it is joint with my husband. paramaribo
Typical book of propaganda. “Man’s work determines the face and name of the country and soil, in which his roots are embedded…” Beautiful photo album showing the cole pits of Eastern Estonia, miners, engineers and their families, how they lived, worked and how they spent their free time. Life looked like a flower, but what can you believe only according to the images? Book by Samuil Migdal, graphic design Ülo Habicht. Published on 1968, Tallinn.
Different agricultural systems for cultivating land in Estonia. How different it is from your country? Two weeks ago I started with some try out but lots of doubts so far and therefore I feel uncomfortable to show them now. Instead I am sending you some images. Would you be willing to have a chat via Skype to give a refreshing kick to our conversations? My Skype name is the same as the original on. Greetings, from very snowy Tallinn, Ketli Hi Ketli, How are you, i am sorry for being away for so long. Due to some personal circumstances I was not able or better said not capable of getting behind the computer for some inspiring talks. But I did made some pieces and I will make pictures of them and load them so you can see them. chequita Hi Chequita, I hope new year has started with lots of good surprises and high energy for you! Thank you very much for sharing the talisman pictures with me. They are really interesting. I am glad you liked the idea of dealing with symbols for WGA. Lets continue with it. I do not have a clear picture how to translate it into jewellery jet. I think it is very natural that both of us will find something different from this wide theme. I am looking forward what will comes out with your inspiration towards Arabic symbols. I will come soon back with my ideas. And yes, 5th Tallinn Applied Art Triennials seminar and major event are over since mid November, but the exhibition is still on until the end of February. We have an extreme winter here, since Christmas half a meter of snow and temperature varying from -10 to -25. Yesterday was again -23 day and today -20 with heavy wind.
How was the conference? And your Eye infection is over now? I think the theme for WTGQA for me could be bout symbols and its meaning. That has always been something I am interested about and when you mentioned the Book(which seems very interesting) this reminded me of a collection I once wanted to make. I discovered some books about arabic symbols that meanly consists out of geometric forms repeating. And when you take a good look at most of the tiles and other ornaments made there you will discover the geometric paterns.
So for me it would be interesting to go into this direction, but ofcourse I am curious what yu think of this. Symbols is a big area which has many directions. I inserted a picture of my peace of cloth(for protection)and talisman given to me by my mother on my weddingday. I also have something with hearts wherever I see one I need to have it. I already have a small collection. This was also something we had as a little girls integrated in our jewellery.
I Wish Evereybody a Happy 2010 !!! Chequita Over some years I took out from the bookshelf a book “The Antagonistic Link” which contains letters of Theo van Doesburg and Joaquin Torres-García. I bought this book on 1997 in Amsterdam while I was studing in the Rietveld Academie. I remember that I was captured by the sincerity and passion of their letters, how these two great thinkers of avant-garde movement with different backrounds were able to discuss about the meaning of the single word over and over again. How they had strong disagreemnets and they still tried to explain to each other ones points of view. It is very emotional book I enjoyed it very much, containing next to the correspondence of these two big men also interesting articles about their backround and the circle of artists they were involved with. It is certainly one of these almost blind purchases which turn to be very dear. I admire their works very much. Only now being involved with Grey Area I kind of realised that the whole book was a huge and great cooperation of curators and familiy members in Holland and South America too. I chose to show you some symbols by Torres-García as I find his theory very interesting and maybe this will inspire you too. I am quoting from the book. : Torres-García said: “Geometry and symbolism tend to be the artist’s natural mode of expression. First of all geometry because it is the graphic language of reason; then symbolism, because the symbol is also in fact a graphic idea. But there is another reason from the artist’s point of view,and this is of the greatest importance. The symbol in fact, unlike all other images, does not represent any other thing; the symbol is different: it represents itself. Because in the symbol, idea and form are the same thing; one and the same thing: it is the idea-matter, or matter-idea, whichever you prefer… If the artist is a creator of symbols it is because the symbolic form is not just something that exists within the rational structure, but also within the soul and in matter and it emerges from them made, as it were, of one piece; and this is why it has, in a sense a magical value, and why it operates directly on our spiritual sense, without requiring any interpretation or reading; and for these reasons as far as its form is concerned it has a value in itself. Maybe you know this book? Let me know what you think about T-G theory about symbols! Ketli Dear Chequita, I am sorry you had to wait now for me. After the intense period of the work with the triennial I got an eye infection. Less computer was necessary, luckily it’s almost over, back in track eventually. First, can you please post the pictures of the small talismans you told me. I read your post about little presents your were thinking to make. Beautiful thought. You had Christmas in your mind I suppose? For me Christmas is a strange time, we have always celebrated it in our family, even at the time it was forbidden(when we belonged to the happy family of USSR )- we celebrated it behind heavy curtains. Very long time it was of course the favorite event of the year, just next to my birthday when one could expect number of presents. Well soon the presents turned to more practical then fun things(as a teenager I remember of getting 10 pair set of ugly but warm underpants from granny and two granny like nightgowns from my mum, uh). Even now we mostly give within my family only practical things. Every year I think of making something special, but the time passes before I ever have a chance. When my grandfather died this Spring I was desperately trying to remember did I ever received something from him what I could treasure except all the memories? Then I remembered one story. When I turned 16 he and his wife wanted to give me something special I could keep for a long time. but at the time I was crazy about swimming and diving so when we drove to shopping center and I saw green rubber flippers and instead of jewellery, dress or a book I got them. This shows how generous he was, I am sure he thought it was ridiculous from me, but he respected my wish. I guess therefore it would be really nice to receive surprise presents, like you are planning.
When I am traveling I love visiting flee markets and I try to purchase small gifts from there. (On the picture flee market in Brussels). Dear Chequita, I was wondering that are these the themes you would like to work further for the Gray area? Or do you have some other things in mind? today a lot of people asked me if I had something special for the special holliday coming up. I though about the “holy spirit” a lot of us refer to during these days. So now I am making porcelain hearts which contain some holy thoughts. Thoughts and little ways of help everybody searches for whenever the world seems to be falling down around us. I saw the most beautiful luck puppets of all time inspiring. I wonder do we really need something to give us that bit of power when we need it? Ketli what do you think? see you chequita Dear Chequita, I am going to the Koru 3 conference and exhibition this Thursday staying there till Sunday. Next week I have the opening of Tallinn Applied Art Triennial. I am sorry, but during next two weeks I will be unable to blog here. But I will keep a little empty spot for the Grey Area ideas behind my brains. I will be back soon, Ketli Hello Ketli, How are you ? I was thinking about wat you said. A lot off the enclosed pieces of jewellery with hidden messages or herbs we have are called Tapoe. This means closed and only the wearer knows what is inside and where it is used for. Most of the time it are simple square forms. hereby one off my old necklaces where I translated the precious tapoes we use in Surinam for natural precious forms. Thank you for the comment, it sounds really interesting! I am looking forward to see the pictures too. Where and how big were these little garnets you used to have on your clothes to protect you? Could you please also write posts directly here Best wishes, Ketli I am very glad that you are in the other side of the wire now. And congratulations, on your weddings! You asked, how should we start our collaboration? Shall we start first with exchanging some images with comments we think are characteristic to the theme of the exhibition, or to our individual work or to the way we think or they just inspire us. Lets just take it slowly and get to know each other and see what works best with us.
For the start I am sending you an image with one tiny “chestnut animal” pin from my last collection “Homesickness”. Chestnuts- in Estonia it is believed that chestnut in your pocket will bring you luck. When we were children we kept many of them in every single pocket we had. Also we used to drag piles and piles of chestnuts home and made little animals out of them. Then we tried to eat them, they tasted horrible, and someone smart told us, that you have to bake them in the owen before you can eat them. Well, the sound of cracking chestnuts in my mothers owen and her face, I never forget. It appeared that chestnuts growing in Estonia are delicious only perhaps for the wild boars. It is also believed that chestnuts help to prevent moths while they are stored between woolen things. Have you ever believed in such a things-superstition?
Where are you? I am looking forward to hear from you! Ketli I am born in Estonia and lived almost always here(except during my studies in Oslo and Amsterdam). My grandfather at mother’s side was Polish(deported to Estonia while he was very young). Everyone else in my family seems to have Estonian roots. Now I am together with Hungarian man, who is also artist and we have a little daughter together. She took most of my time during last two years, but now she started in the day care. The best part of the day I like is an evening. I often sit in front of our kitchen window in the darkness. My friend Berit managed to capture me in the ambient I love. I am very much evening person. This quiet time cools me down and inspires me. At my last exhibition I was dealing with homesickness- I liked what John Cheever wrote in, The Stories of John Cheever (1978) Homesickness is… absolutely nothing. Fifty percent of the people in the world are homesick all the time… You don’t really long for another country. You long for something in yourself that you don’t have, or haven’t been able to find. Most of the time after the graduation I have shared my time between making jewellery and working for art related institutions. In the beginning of October I start working again for the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design. I am also one of the organisers of Tallinn Applied Art Triennial. It seems I am always longing after more time for the jewellery, something I can’t get enough ever.
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and other things
on that has the same feeling as the maps. Which to me is also interesting. Have to go now but will sent you my skype name tomorrow so we can skype.
Dear Ketli,
