The Gardener of the Wolf Month
Silk Paintings from Two Centuries
Lylian Meister
I feel that my exhibition does not require explanation, but presence. I have enjoyed every moment of painting on silk — both decades ago and today. The smooth and shimmering fabric absorbs color, light, and moods; it allows the brush to touch it and yields to thoughts and intentions. Whether it is a moment of aesthetic wonder or a longing for the silky, sybaritic luxury of beauty — that is for the viewer to decide.
For me, these silk fabrics are large, airy watercolors, where the gardens of the Gardener of the Wolf Month drift and take flight across a lifetime — unreal, dreamlike, and melted into silk.
My love for silk began when I was a young production artist designing fabrics at the textile atelier of the ARS Art Combine. I have held several exhibitions of silk paintings in Tallinn as well as in Finland, Sweden, Norway, and London. My silk works are included in the art collection of the city of Alta and in numerous private collections in different countries.
Alongside the silk paintings, the exhibition also presents two printed textile self-portraits. The Phoenix, born last year, has flown in, while Worldview, galloping from the previous century, has also arrived. Tuesday. In the end, all of this is simply me — as a textile artist I work with various materials and techniques, some of the more complex ones acquired at a university of the imperial era.
Yet much of this exhibition feels like a gift from the Tallinn Botanic Garden: all this greenery and botanical richness during Estonia’s snowy Wolf Month, protected by a palace of glass, tended by gardeners, alive. Planta sapiens. What more fitting exhibition venue could there be for a painterly gardener and a romantic?
My heartfelt thanks to the wonderful people who made this exhibition possible:
Urve Sinijärv and Jaan Mettik (Tallinn Botanic Garden) for their trust and this wonderful exhibition opportunity; Piret Valk and Kadi Kibbermann (Estonian Academy of Arts) for their help installing the exhibition; John Fail for providing studio space; and of course my husband Volli Lainoja for his love and invaluable support.
Silk Paintings from Two Centuries
Lylian Meister
I feel that my exhibition does not require explanation, but presence. I have enjoyed every moment of painting on silk — both decades ago and today. The smooth and shimmering fabric absorbs color, light, and moods; it allows the brush to touch it and yields to thoughts and intentions. Whether it is a moment of aesthetic wonder or a longing for the silky, sybaritic luxury of beauty — that is for the viewer to decide.
For me, these silk fabrics are large, airy watercolors, where the gardens of the Gardener of the Wolf Month drift and take flight across a lifetime — unreal, dreamlike, and melted into silk.
My love for silk began when I was a young production artist designing fabrics at the textile atelier of the ARS Art Combine. I have held several exhibitions of silk paintings in Tallinn as well as in Finland, Sweden, Norway, and London. My silk works are included in the art collection of the city of Alta and in numerous private collections in different countries.
Alongside the silk paintings, the exhibition also presents two printed textile self-portraits. The Phoenix, born last year, has flown in, while Worldview, galloping from the previous century, has also arrived. Tuesday. In the end, all of this is simply me — as a textile artist I work with various materials and techniques, some of the more complex ones acquired at a university of the imperial era.
Yet much of this exhibition feels like a gift from the Tallinn Botanic Garden: all this greenery and botanical richness during Estonia’s snowy Wolf Month, protected by a palace of glass, tended by gardeners, alive. Planta sapiens. What more fitting exhibition venue could there be for a painterly gardener and a romantic?
My heartfelt thanks to the wonderful people who made this exhibition possible:
Urve Sinijärv and Jaan Mettik (Tallinn Botanic Garden) for their trust and this wonderful exhibition opportunity; Piret Valk and Kadi Kibbermann (Estonian Academy of Arts) for their help installing the exhibition; John Fail for providing studio space; and of course my husband Volli Lainoja for his love and invaluable support.