Silk paintings at the Palm House

Hundikuu aednik
Silk Paintings from Two Centuries

Lylian Meister:

The title of my exhibition, Hundikuu aednik, translates directly as The Gardener of the Wolf Month. In Estonian tradition, Hundikuu refers to both January and February.
I feel that my exhibition does not require explanation, but presence. I have enjoyed every moment of painting on silk — both many decades ago and today. Smooth and lustrous, the fabric absorbs colour, light, and mood; it allows itself to be touched by the brush and submits to thought and intention. Whether this is an encounter with beauty or an expression of silky, sybaritic longing for luxury is for the viewer to decide. For me, these silks are large, airy watercolours, upon which flow and drift the lifetime gardens of the Gardener of the Wolf Moon — unreal, dreamlike, melted into silk.

I began to love silk as a young artist working with author’s editions, designing fabrics at the ARS textile studio. I have held several silk painting exhibitions in Tallinn, Finland, Sweden, Norway, and London. My silk works are included in the art collection of the city of Alta (Norway) as well as in numerous private collections in different countries.

Alongside the silk paintings, the exhibition also presents two printed textile self-portraits. Present are Phoenix, born last year, and Worldview. Tuesday., shed from the previous century. In the end, all of this is me — as a textile artist, I work with a wide range of materials and techniques, the more complex of which I once mastered at an imperial-era university.

A large part of this exhibition has come to me as a gift from the Tallinn Botanic Garden itself: all this greenery and plant life in the snowy winter, protected through the two Estonian Wolf Moon months by a glass palace, cared for by gardeners, alive. Planta sapiens. What more meaningful exhibition space could there be for a painting gardener and a romantic… thank you.

I extend my heartfelt thanks to Urve Sinijärv and Jaan Mettik (Tallinn Botanic Garden) for their trust and this wonderful exhibition opportunity; to Piret Valk and Kadi Kibbermann (Estonian Academy of Arts) for their help with the installation; to John Fail (Perfect Lives) for the brilliant studio space; and, of course, to my husband Volli Lainoja for his love and invaluable support.