20.01.-19.03.2023
The group exhibition “Secret Garden” by Kadri Toomi, Külli Suitso, Kalli Kalde, Tuuli Puhvel and Anne Rudanovski in the large gallery of the Tartu Art House.
The isolation of the COVID period led us into the unknown labyrinths of the inner world of the soul. Unexpected meetings at the crossroads of the secret garden bring light to the fragile yet powerful world of feelings and instincts, revealing unexpected opportunities and connections. Some creatures have been banished by cultural false modesty to the darker recesses of the secret garden, where they will hopefully stay alive.
Anne Rudanovski's works - "Mummica and other feelings" and "Reading Diaries" represent those areas of the secret garden that could be characterized by the expression "dark night of the soul".
Why is the work called "Mummicat and other feelings"?
"These animals are like characters from the inner world of the human psyche. They may represent feelings, instincts, but also characteristic traits. Mummicat, or Mummy Cat, in the title refers to concepts from Egyptian culture. Mummification was a cornerstone of ancient Egyptian culture. This ancient tradition of body preservation linked them to the underworld, to hope and to the unknown.
For me, these animal figures express first of all different aspects of human emotions. Some of them may be unknown for me, repressed or unexpressed. They are at the subconscious side of my psyche, mummified, preserved, in the expectation that one day everything will change (Anne will be wiser :). In a nutshell - these may be my chances for a full life.
One might wonder what the dolphin represents, symbolizes for us, what the cat, etc.... What thoughts and feelings come to mind?
I'm using cardboard boxes for the animal figures, which I cut into pieces and then connect with staples. Piece by piece, you can start modeling straight away. The result is a kind of stitched sculpture, a bit painful.
To make the dolphin, I used cardboard boxes left over from the renovation of the Tartu Art School computer park. The color of the packaging was inspiringly black. Unbeknownst to myself, I have started to make sculptures that respond to the trends of the time: recycling and extending the life cycle of materials. I cut rectangles from corrugated cardboard and stapled them into shapes. It took 22 000 staples."
