Kail Timusk. Photos by August Kilmi
On March 6, the exhibition “Metamorphosis” by 14 young artists opened in the ARS project space and the winners of the EKA Young Sculptor Prize were announced. Kail Timusk won the grand prize with his work “Requiem larium“.
The jury of the Young Sculptor Grand Prize exhibition is delighted to see ambitious and material-sensitive works that formed a strong exhibition ensemble. The artists addressed important topics such as cultural memory, local mythology, heritage and identity, doing so in a topical and contemporary artistic language. In the case of several works, the artists’ ability to link content and material into a coherent, meaningful whole was highlighted.
The jury will award the first prize to Kail Timusk, whose work stood out for its ambitious and multi-layered approach. This is a well-executed performative, time-changing and audience-engaging work, in which the jury highly appreciated both the integrity and thematic approach. The artist uses a material with sentimental value, namely the wood of the demolished Vormsi house, thus giving the technically strong work the necessary personal and emotional dimension. The jury considers the award recipient to be a strong creator, whose further development we will follow with excitement.
The jury voted Daniil Musesovs‘ installation “U, uu, uuuuuu” as the worthy second place work, which received the jury’s recognition primarily for its unique use of materials and process-based approach. The artist has created a system from natural, self-invented materials, the development of which required extensive testing. In the jury’s opinion, such a thorough and time-consuming work shows the artist’s maturity. The work has the effect of a poetic, detailed and holistic solution, which is supported by a well-expressed textual part, offering the viewer hints on how to read the work without prescribing meanings.
After a meaningful and long discussion, the following works emerged, of which the third place prize went to Maria Wrang Rasmussen for her work “Sleepers in Saccharin”. The work stood out for its technical execution and poetic use of materials. According to the experts on the jury, the creation of the work “jelly relief” is technically challenging and requires a lot of experimentation and working with the material, which in turn clearly highlights the artist’s professional dedication. The work’s use of materials and treatment of the subject form a strong whole. The jury also highlighted the timeless, yet clearly topical dimension of the work.
The unofficial Terje Ojaver mention was awarded to Ivor Mikker.
The exhibition features artists Rover Indigo Bertels-Andréa, Þórey Björk Halldórsdóttir, Denis Kudrjašov, Ivor Mikker, Daniil Musesovs, Elise Marie Olesk, Kertu Rannula, Lotta Karoliina Räsänen, Éric-Olivier Thériault, Kail Timusk, Lume Tuum, Elo Vahtrik, Ats-Anton Varustin and Maria Wrang-Rasmussen.
The works of the young sculptors can be viewed in the ARS Showroom until March 22.