“This has Always Altered Me” by Tea Lemberpuu and Maris Siimer in Artrovert Gallery

We warmly welcome you to the exhibition opening “This has always altered me” by Tea Lemberpuu and Maris Siimer in Artrovert Gallery, Tomorrow 5th of November at 18.30.

This has always altered me
Tea Lemberpuu ja Maris Siimer

There is a longing within us that carries the force of a strong wind. It drives one to move forward and seek a peaceful place. For example, one located in some border area, where one can hear the whispers of two places masterfully blending together. It urges us forward and sends us in search of a peaceful place — perhaps somewhere on the edge of things, where the whispers of two places meet and gently intertwine. Even a restless soul, pausing to listen, can become tranquil. Such quiet moments take on a form that might be considered sacred.

The sacred reveals itself in the everyday through our continuous search and our wish to notice it around us. It does not hide in a longed-for place, but rather in the pauses and flickers that slow us down as we move towards it. Perhaps it is in falling silent that the edge of sacredness becomes visible — like an invisible thread stitched into daily life, binding everything and everyone with its unbroken seam.

The sensitive paintings of Tea Lemberpuu and Maris Siimer are like snapshots from this journey — the canvas as a notebook to which the artists return, making notations in their own language of colour and form.  At once a quiet resistance and an effort to preserve sensitivity in a time whose relentless pace rarely allows us to stop.

Connection – and its absence – has always altered me. Into silence.

Tea Lemberpuu (b. 1980) holds a BA in Painting (2023) and an MA in Contemporary Art (2025) from the Estonian Academy of Arts. She has been awarded the EAA Young Artist Prize and is a member of the Tartu Artists’ Union. Lemberpuu has participated in exhibitions in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Italy. Her work, across different techniques and areas of inquiry, has consistently explored questions of time and slowness, boundaries and chance, play and visibility. In this exhibition, she seeks ways in which the sacred might emerge in everyday life through connection and love.
Maris Siimer (b. 1980) is a visual artist based in Tallinn whose practice encompasses illustration and painting. Integrating long walks in nature into her process, she observes how slowness and silence can guide us toward something greater and more sacred than ourselves. The two largest works in the exhibition were painted in open air, in the presence of light and air — as if with her ear turned toward the sounds of nature, Siimer intuitively and in layers builds up invisible searches on the surface of the canvas. Her ongoing exploration of expression and method is influenced by the organic forms of Estonia’s northern coastal landscapes. Just as nature has guided her, so too has music at moments when the connection with oneself and the sacred feels fragile. Siimer’s paintings are, in a way, an invitation to restore that connection. She is a member of the Estonian Painters’ Association and the women artists’ collective Fööniks.

Supported by the Estonian Cultural Endowment
Text: Karola Ainsar
Graphic design: Katariin Mudist
More information: Siim Raie, Artrovert Gallery, galerii@artrovert.ee | +372 507 6807 | www.artrovert.ee