Tallinn's VAAL gallery opens joint exhibition by painter Ludmila Siim and jeweler Marko Kazur

The VAAL gallery in Tallinn's Telliskivi creative quarter has opened an exhibition combining the works of painter Ludmila Siim and jeweler Marko Kazur. The two artists, whose creative paths could hardly be more different, became friends, and that friendship eventually led to collaborative artworks.

Siim's work was first exhibited back in 1968, long before Kazur was even born. Siim emigrated to Finland in the 1970s, while Kazur is a self-taught master. The two met relatively recently, and their acquaintance grew into a creative partnership.

A shared creative wavelength

Siim said she and Kazur are "on the same wavelength" — she draws inspiration from his work, and he from hers. Kazur recounted that six years ago he wanted to buy one of Siim's paintings but was outbid by another buyer. Rather than give up, he tracked down the artist's contact details and reached out to her directly, which sparked a friendship that later grew into joint artistic projects.

Kazur's main creative field is jewelry, and the exhibition features a series of his delicate brooches and hairpins. In recent years he has also been experimenting with digital technology, which the pair have now used to reinterpret Siim's paintings — turning the original artworks into new graphic versions that can carry entirely different meanings.

About the painter

In the last century, Siim was a prominent figure of hyperrealism and pop art on the Estonian art scene; after moving to Finland she shifted toward a more abstract style. Wide recognition in her home country came late, but she has since received all of Estonia's most prestigious art awards. Despite her advanced age, she still visits her studio in Helsinki almost every day.

The exhibition at the VAAL gallery in the Telliskivi quarter runs until September 5.