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Kassia II

Kassia II

Burlap, tufted wool and acrylic
70 × 80 cm
2022
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Introduction

In homage to my grandmother’s hands, weathered by both soil and thread, I weave stories of resilience and connection. Kassia I and Kassia II, my tufted pieces, bear witness to the labour of generations of women.

My grandmother toiled in her sun-drenched garden, unrooting trees, wrestling berry bushes, and digging deep holes to remove the lifeless remnants of once-mighty trunks. Her hands, calloused and knowing, moved seamlessly between soil and fabric. At nights she settled by the flickering TV. There, on the edge of newspapers and scraps of paper, she doodled a secret language of roots, plant parts, sometimes faces. These quiet sketches, born from her joy and longing, left a strong memory of her restless mind. At the heart of Kassia I and Kassia II lie patterns of gooseberry bush roots and pear tree roots, traced from memory. And along the edges, a nod to the checkered notebooks that held her markings.

 

Kassia I and Kassia II were part of Laura Põld’s solo exhibition Translating and Co-labouring that took place in January 2023 at AV17 Gallery in Vilnius.

Keiu Krikmann: “In the two-part series Kassia, Põld makes visible the process of making and unmaking. Combining and unravelling threads, she also endows the viewer with a two-fold vision. Despite the unfinished parts and loose threads, the viewer is compelled to construct an image, a whole, to finish it in their mind’s eye. At the same time, looking at the unravelling pieces, the image disintegrates into material, drawing the viewer’s attention to the source, the components.”

About the artist

Laura Põld’s practice combines interdisciplinary and traditional craft skills with sculpture-based mediums. Through these lenses, she examines posthuman and more-than-human ways of being, caring, community building, and sheltering. She creates large-scale assemblages, constructions and installations from these sources, which playfully disrupt and subvert the typical understanding of art venues.

Laura Põld (b.1984 in Tallinn, Estonia) is an Estonian artist living in Tallinn and Vienna. Her formal education includes the study of ceramics at the Estonian Academy of Arts (BA), painting at the University of Tartu (MA) and sculptural conceptions and ceramics at the University of Art and Design, Linz (MA). She is a Visiting Associate Professor of installation and sculpture at the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA), Tallinn, Estonia.

Her recent solo and duo exhibitions include: Translating and Co-labouring, (AV17) Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania (2023); Common Threads, Polar Bear and Elephant with Andres Tolts, Kogo Gallery, Tartu, Estonia (2022); Doing What They Do Best, Kunstraum Memphis, Linz, Austria (2021). Recent group exhibitions include: Down the Rabbit Hole, MO museum, Vilnius, Lithuania (2024), Emotional Landscapes, Arka Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania (2023); shelter – sanctuary, The Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (EKKM), Tallinn, Estonia (2023); Art in the Age of the Anthropocene, Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn, Estonia (2023); (INTIMITÄT) Feelings are Facts, Kunstverein Eisenstadt, Austria (2023). Recent art fairs include: duo presentation with Anna Mari Liivrand at Esther Art Fair with Kogo Gallery, New York City, US (2024), Kassia I and Kassia II, solo presentation at Basel Social Club with Kogo Gallery, Basel, Swizerland (2024); Ways of Being, solo presentation at viennacontenporay 2023, Zone1 section with Kogo Gallery, Vienna, Austria (2023); Fibers in the Cave, solo presentation at Art Brussels with Kogo Gallery, Belgium (2023), Emotional Landscapes, duo presentation with Kristi Kongi at Liste Art Fair Basel with Kogo Gallery, Switzerland (2022).

Põld has been awarded a number of prizes and scholarships such as the Köler Prize Grand Prix (2016), the Grand Prize of The Cultural Endowment of Estonia (2018), the ISCP New York studio grant (2019) and the Claus Michaletz Preis (2021). Laura Põld is one of the recipients of the Estonian artist’s salary during 2023–2025.
Her works are in collections of Art Museum Bayreuth and European Central Bank Art Collection, Germany; Gmundner Keramik Collection, Austria; Art Museum of Estonia and Tartu Art Museum, Estonia; Zuzāns Collection, VV Foundation and Mark Rothko Centre, Latvia.

More works by this artist

Installation (steel, tufted rugs, plywood, varnish, paint), 131 × 132 × 132 cm, 2022
Installation (steel, tufted rugs, plywood, varnish, paint), 182 × 229 × 4 cm, 2022
Installation (steel, tufted rugs, plywood, varnish, paint), 115 × 142 × 4 cm, 2022
Tufted rug, rope, felt, 135 × 180 cm, 2022
Tufted rugs, rope, 38 × 68 × 37 cm, 2021
Tufted rugs, plywood, varnish, 205 × 60 × 3 cm, 2021
Tufted rugs, plywood, varnish, 95 × 80 × 90 cm, 2021
Low fire ceramics, 2018
Low fire ceramics, 2018
Cotton, wool, hand-tufted, 190 × 130 cm, 2022
Hand-tufted rug with fringes, 150 × 90 cm, 2022
Steel, wool, 80 × 60 cm, 2022
Steel, 80 × 60 cm, 2022
Tufted wool, burlap, rope , 280 × 480 cm, 2022–2023
Wool, acrylic, burlap, felt, 110 × 105 × 2 cm, 2023
Wool, acrylic, burlap, felt, 145 × 192 × 2 cm, 2023
Tufted rug, 400 × 90 cm, 2021
Ceramics, 34 × 24 × 2.5 cm, 2020
Sold
Ceramics, 38 × 26,5 × 2.5 cm, 2020
Ceramics, 35 × 23 × 2.5 cm, 2020
Ceramics, 30 × 40 × 2.5 cm, 2020
Ceramics, 31.3 × 21 × 2.5 cm, 2020
Ceramics, 32 × 22 × 2.5 cm, 2020
Sold
Ceramics, 30.2 × 20 × 2.5 cm, 2019
Ceramics, 31 × 22 × 2.5 cm, 2020
Sold
Burlap, tufted wool and acrylic, 70 × 80 cm, 2022
Burlap, tufted wool and acrylic, 105 × 70 cm, 2022
Ceramics, 60 × 30 × 20 cm, 2018
Earthenware ceramics, 24 × 26 × 5 cm, 2018–2019
Earthenware ceramics, 26 × 16 × 5 cm, 2018–2019
Earthenware ceramics, 41 × 30 × 5 cm, 2018–2019
Ceramics, 24 × 35 × 12 cm, 2018–2019
Ceramics, 21 × 33 × 4 cm, 2018–2019
Ceramics, 38 × 31 × 4 cm, 2018–2019
Ceramics, 23 × 33 × 8 cm, 2018–2019
Porcelain, 21 × 19 × 4.5 cm, 2018–2019
Ceramics, 90 × 60 × 65 cm, 2019
Porcelain, 15.5 × 12 × 2 cm, 2018–2019
Ceramics, 40 × 40 × 35 cm, 2019
Sold
Ceramics, 25 × 34 × 30 cm, 2019
Ceramics, 90 × 32 × 30 cm, 2019
Ceramics, 22 × 38 × 33 cm, 2019
Ceramics, porcelain, 50 × 47 × 53 cm, 2019

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