To Write One’s/Your Name. Mirror and To Write One’s/Your Name (S7)

Alone and naked, the shape which forms the basis for all the works in Sirja-Liisa’s painting series is as unexpected as the rectangle in Mari’s Repeating Patterns series. It is only the changes of position and outlines making gradation of colours more expressive that add to its sensitivity and airiness. “First there was a shape; the meanings and interpretations came later,” says Sirja-Liisa. “I knew that there has to be gentle sensuality, nostalgia for the lost world, clear structure, and finally, the rescuing sublimity, scope and elegant sense of superiority… The shape featured in the painting is reminiscent of a classic carousel ornament, clouds from Toomas Vint’s early paintings, birds I visualised as a child before falling asleep, pressing my fingers on my eyelids; a butterfly, a fan, a feather, a lotus blossom and a gingko leaf from a tree growing in the garden of Vormsi enn, which Tiina gave me. Kristjan saw tombstones in these images, and so did you, even though you didn’t say that to me.”

There is no mirror in this list. Sirja-Liisa has added it in her series as a self-evident element.