Laura Põld’s practice is focused on exploring the dynamic agency and expressiveness of materials and media. Põld works with a diverse range of materials such as clay, wool, textiles, plants, metal and wood, engaging with them as mediums and active companions. This material-driven approach invites a dialogue between human and more-than-human forces that allows the works to evolve through resistance, transformation and nurturance. Her immersive installations challenge conventional hierarchies between art and craft to reimagine traditional methods and forms of making.

By weaving together the threads of materiality, mythology and language, Põld’s work speaks to the intersections of craft, feminism, ecology and folklore. Põld draws, in particular, on the rich traditions of Estonian runic songs (regilaul) and shamanic motifs, through which she explores the otherworldly and mythical to craft new ways of seeing and understanding the world. Her recent projects also address Estonia’s environmental and industrial legacies, representing a commitment to bridging human culture with ecological consciousness. Through a sensitive interplay of fragility and strength in both materials and themes, she pushes against conventional boundaries, inviting fresh perspectives as she does so.

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 (EKA) in Tallinn (BA), painting at the University of Tartu (MA) and sculptural conceptions and ceramics at the University of Art and Design in Linz (MA). She is currently a visiting associate professor of installation and sculpture at EKA.

Põld’s recent exhibitions include Down the Rabbit Hole, MO Museum, Vilnius, Lithuania (2024), Art in the Age of the Anthropocene, Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn, Estonia (2023); Common Threads, Polar Bear and Elephant, Kogo Gallery, Tartu, Estonia (2022/23); ars viva 2022 – Agents of Perception, Kai Centre, Tallinn, Estonia (2022); Walking Talking Minerals, Titanik, Turku, Finland (2021); Doing What They Do Best, Kunstraum Memphis, Linz, Austria (2021); Beings with – the wonder and trouble of togetherness, the Fiskars Village Art and Design Biennale 2019, Fiskars, Finland (2019); Descending from the liquid horizon, Le lieu unique, Nantes, France (2018/19); Hundreds of Illusions Charted as Land, Tartu Art Museum, Tartu, Estonia (2016). Recent art fairs in collaboration with Kogo Gallery include viennacontemporary, Vienna, Austria (2024, 2023); Esther, New York City, US (2024); Basel Social Club, Basel, Switzerland (2024); Art Brussels, Belgium (2023); Liste Art Fair Basel, Basel, Switzerland (2022).

Laura Põld has been awarded several prizes and scholarships, including the Claus Michaletz Preis (2021), the ISCP’s studio grant in New York (2019), the Grand Prize of The Cultural Endowment of Estonia (2018) and the Köler Prize Grand Prix (2016). She is and was also one of the recipients of the Estonian artist’s salary from 2023–2025 and from 2019–2021. 

Põld’s works are in the collection of the Kunstmuseum Bayreuth and the European Central Bank Art Collection, Germany; The Art Collection of the State of Upper Austria and the collection of Gmundner Keramik, Austria; the collections of the Art Museum of Estonia and Tartu Art Museum, Estonia; the Zuzāns Collection and the collections of the VV Foundation and the Rothko Museum, Latvia.