Agnė Mackevičiūtė: You have studied at four different art schools all over the world. You obtained your BA degree in ceramic design from the Estonian Academy of Art, and you studied visual art in London at Central St Martin’s University of Art and Design. For your MA degree, you studied visual art in Vancouver at Emily Carr University of Art and Design, and also ceramics at the Rhode Island School of Design. What have you gained from all these studies? How did they help you shape your artistic work?
Kristel Saan: The Estonian Academy of Art is my home. The growth and the relationships with the ‘family’ have been one hell of a rollercoaster: every time you think that the ride should be over, you find yourself in another exciting curb with them. I learnt the basics there, learning to draw and paint, and got to know about clay, and faced the great challenges and ultimate freedom of becoming an artist. Responsibility came much later (laughs). CSM (that’s what Londoners call it), or Central St Martins, opened me up in a very positive way. I didn’t restrict myself to the material or the medium any more. My work became much more conceptual and writing-based. I basically did what I wanted … that was London for me, that’s what London does. I literally visited one or two shows a day, lived, shopped and dined like a local, and dated and tubed like a Londoner. For a while I thought that was it, I will never leave, and London is my home; but life had different plans. As Craig Taylor writes in his book Londoners, ‘I will always miss London, but London doesn’t even notice that I’m gone.’ Time to move on. I felt that I was on to something after returning to Estonia and obtaining my ceramics degree. I continued with my MA studies, already knowing that the next stop was North America. Emily Carr in Vancouver … pause … (the heart beats faster every time I have to tell the story) stole my heart. I’m alive! So much so that I ended up actually living there for many incredibly unforgettable years. At Emily Carr, I learned the importance of research in artists’ lives. I learned argumentation and questioning, I was writing a lot. And now to top it up with RISD-i … Rhode Island School of Design is a phenomenon … The university campus is right next to Brown University, and those two together form half of Providence, or so it feels. At RISD-i I felt the sweat and rush in a sense that people are trying to get the maximum out of their studies, facilities, professors, material and each other … It is a race. The whole semester there I did a lot of writing and worked on ceramic sculptures … So, for me it was really a project. I feel that to get the full RISD-i experience you have to be there for the whole four years. So all these places and people together have shaped my practice a great deal. I have to say people are at the heart of things for me, always.
AM: You have lived and worked in Canada for eight years. Can you compare the Canadian and European art worlds? Any major differences?
KS: I have to say that one of the first things I noticed in Canada is that art works, even when dealing with very delicate, sad and pressing matters, are lighter in their presentation, shape, and light colour … everything. I noticed that people do not talk about everyday problems as much, if ever, but address the pressing issues in society, history, etc, in concrete and adamant ways.
They have a voice, and they have listeners. I find Canadians in general very kind and welcoming people, they are easy-going, patient and tolerant. They are non-indigenous in their land, like many other nations, and that has made them humble and welcoming to others as well. At least this is how I perceived it. So yes, when I think about West Coast Canadian artwork, pink, pastel colours, soft textiles and even floral motifs come to mind, as well as very sophisticated performances (a lot of time accompanying the physical artwork) and conceptual installations.
Art Directing, Decorating and dressing for Market Mexico event
AM: You have also worked in Hollywood for big blockbuster movies, making sets and objects. Which movies have you most enjoyed working on? What are the biggest issues you face while working on big movies?
KS: Working in film, in North America, is like being in the military. Everyone has a very clear position and tasks, so to speak. It is incredibly organised, which is the only way to do it when you have hundreds of people working on set. I love working for movies, if you are asking me about a challenging moment, I would say the hours … We have twelve-hour days, seven am to seven pm, but when there’s deadlines, people do overtime, so that’s tough … The longing for sleep is an issue that film workers face … but for some reason, they find their way back there all the time … so there must be magic involved (smiles).
I remember clearly the day I got my first call from the Dispatch.[1] [1] Me and a friend were sitting on Kitsilano beach on a hot summer’s afternoon. It was 2015. I was so scared, but worked on everything so hard and got along with everyone, so that the set decorator Denise Nadredre started to ask me back, for the new show, where I was already on with her from the beginning. We did a lot of movies with that crew, but my favourite, I think, was Riverdale. Based on Archie Comics. I did the whole two-season art work. It was so much fun. One of my first gigs on set was a Star Wars commercial and the new X-Files episodes. I was so blown away by it all.
AM: ‘Paradise – I Already Went and Came Back’ is your first solo show in Lithuania. You have mentioned to me that in a way this exhibition is a little different to the ones you usually create. What are the main differences?
KS: The main difference for me is that I didn’t get too complicated or utterly conceptual. I took a path and started going … All the objects are touched by Paradise one way or another. The objects in the show are subtly in conversation with each other, in their calm and almost therapeutic way. For me, this exhibition came together a bit like a set itself, it has an editorial feel to it. Like being in someone’s space, almost …
One of many “offices” for Riverdale season 2-3
AM: One of the key objects that unchain this exhibition is the neon sign ‘Indigenous Times With Self’. What are these times to you, and why are they important?
KS: ‘Indigenous Times With Self’ means being with yourself in all honesty … It is the letting go and breathing in and out. Taking the moment of going back to your true Self, whoever that is, wherever it is … as much as we know, as much as we can.
AM: I believe it is quite important to you to know your true Self, as you travel so much and change your environment a lot. In this show at the (AV17) gallery, we see driftwood, horse hair, and objects reminiscent of fishing nets or sea animals. All these objects could be related to nature in Estonia. There is also a photograph of an indigenous girl from Canada. Do you relate this exhibition to the places you live, the places that formed you, or do you feel it in a more spiritual way?
I am very sensitive to environments, for sure. I guess the show mirrors some of the Paradise I have experienced, but it is not deliberately dedicated to one or two in particular. There is always that adopting moment with new places, you feel them and choose the level you want to embrace them. There is no place I have visited that has left me cold or ignorant. I always have some emotions, even when they are not the most positive ones. Also, being on the road is an interesting time to write … like those in-between places that almost do not exist, because there is always the excitement of the destination ahead or nostalgia for where we have just departed. We give meanings to everything we pass, our own connotation and interpretation, but it was also previously left there by millions of other living beings. And now imagine the spirituality that surrounds us in everything … It is Paradise and back to Paradise (smiles).
Exhibition ‘Paradise – I Already Went and Came Back’ at (AV17) gallery, 2021. Photo: Jonas Balsevičius
AM: You have described the art works in the exhibition as ones that went to Paradise and back. Ones that are pure. I can easily agree, because most of the materials you use for the objects are natural: freshwater pearls, human hair, snake skins, etc. In this way, by having these objects in the exhibition, we now have a part of Paradise here on earth. How would you yourself describe the concept of Paradise?
KS: In this show Paradise is paralleled with nature. Oneness … I am a leaf, and the coral is a thought, you are his thought and silver keeps the animals’ energy … something like that (smiles), everything is energy, and everything is a reflection and a flow … Now all of this is shaped in sculptural forms, and by taking it in your life they work as totems.
The pieces at the show are like Wabi-Sabi x Paradise. Wabi-Sabi is the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. It is the beauty of things modest and humble. Paradise is paralleled with nature, human nature and God. The show focuses on the balance, and encourages to find back that Touch … I couldn’t have put it better than Leonard Cohen, saying that truth comes from the observation of nature. In the context of Wabi-Sabi, ‘nature’ means several things. It refers to the dimension of physical reality untouched by humans: things in their pure, original state. In this sense, nature means things of the Earth, like plants, animals, mountains, rivers and forces. But nature in the context of Wabi-Sabi also encompasses the human mind, and all of its artificial or ‘unnatural’ thoughts and creations. In this sense, nature implies ‘all that exists’, including the underlying principles of existence.
AM: Thank you, Kristel, for sharing your thoughts and experience!