Young Sculptor Prize Exhibition 2026 | Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis – simultaneous disintegration and formation, melting, bending, flowing, estrangement from function.

Emerging sculpture explores transformation, transitions, and continuous uncertain in-between states – in the body, in material, and in space. Traditional techniques and materials encounter synthetic, industrial, and technological elements, generating tension between the organic and the artificial, the rural and the urban, the past and the present. The works engage with questions of perception and adaptation – how to find direction in fog, in subterranean layers, or within internal transformations. How do we orient ourselves in a world where the visible is no longer the primary source of knowledge? Can disintegration and fading be prerequisites for creation and becoming? What role do ritual, tradition, and vanishing skills play in a technologically charged everyday life? Where does the body end and the environment begin – or does such a boundary still exist at all?

Established in 2012, the award aims to highlight and recognize emerging sculptors and installation artists. Previous laureates include Hanna Piksarv, Sten Saarits, Anna Mari Liivrand, Johannes Valdma, Rosa Violetta Grötsch, Johannes Luik, Siim Elmers, Sarah Nõmm, Junny Yeung, Mara Kirchberg, Sandra Ernits, Kati Saarits, and Katariin Mudist.
The exhibition of works created by the 14 shortlisted artists during the 2025/26 academic year will open at ARS Project Space on March 6 at 4:00 PM; the laureate will be announced at the opening.

Exhibition team: Laura Põld, Kirke Kangro, Taavi Talve, Visa Nurmi, Eva Mahhov
Supported by: Estonian Cultural Endowment, Estonian Academy of Arts, Estonian Artists’ Association, Põhjala

Special thanks: ARS Art Factory
https://www.arsfactory.ee/
Kunst.ee magazine
Vaskjala Creative Residency