Ave Palm pairs Ülo Õun sculptures with nature in new exhibition
Sunday 25th October 2026 on 09:01 in
Estonia
Ave Palm has combined cyanotype-treated images of Ülo Õun’s sculptures with photographs and videos of nature in a new exhibition, ERR reports. “The Blue Calm of Being” opened at Uus Rada gallery in Tallinn on 16 October.
The exhibition focuses on Õun’s portraits, which have been described as grotesque and which he called “emotionisms.” Palm applied cyanotype, a technique central to her current work, to photographs of sculptures from the Estonian Art Museum and Tartu Art Museum collections, as well as sculptures photographed in the homes of Õun’s children. Nature footage, largely showing moving water and other abstract natural phenomena, appears behind the sculptures.
The collaboration began with a photograph of Õun’s sculpture “Thoughtful Man” in the grounds of Tuhala Witch’s Well, combined with Palm’s abstract nature photographs. The work’s symbolic character appealed to Palm, who chose images evoking spring growth, flowing water and sunlight.
The exhibition has grown to include ceramics by Õun’s daughter Inguna and sound works by his daughter Laura, as well as sound works by Kenn-Eerik Kannike. It also features developments based on Baran Caginli’s edible sculptures and a self-portrait drawing score by Andrea Zavala Folache and Adriano Wilfert Jensen. The latter two works are interactive, and visitors can take part.
The project is not intended as a comprehensive survey of Õun’s sculpture, but as a tribute to his creative and exploratory spirit. After photographing the moment Tuhala Witch’s Well boiled in 2023, Palm began exploring Õun’s work and came to see the unusual, elongated and rippling portraits as a particularly candid expression of his artistic nature.
Palm developed the project in early 2025 during a residency at Kordon on Hiiumaa. She made one sculpture photograph and cyanotype pairing with nature each day, drawing inspiration from walks and from photographing and filming flowing water and other natural phenomena. The exhibition is open until 25 October.