Uslar, Nakada, Saare at Haapsalu City Gallery

We are living in a time of insecurity, diversity and pluralism. Different type of artworks can collaborate and create new conversations. For the three glass artists Mare Saare, Kazushi Nakada and Kristiina Uslar the common nominator has always been the material – glass. Albeit all three have worked in glass daily for years, sometimes different materials and approaches are used. For Nakada, here it is ceramics and video.

For all three, art is to express social, philosophical or political questions to societies. Art cannot help people physically or change the world systematically. But art has the power to make people think, realize and react. The exhibition “665448” – a code combined of the authors’ ages at present – brings together works of artists whose different dates and places of birth and environmental backgrounds create an interesting starting point for raising and/or solving problems in multiple ways.

A Stranger in the World

At a certain point in my life, I came to the conclusion that instead of words, glass is my means of expression. The comprehension seemed nothing to be ashamed of any more. Having passed through the world for sixty-six years, I decided to summarize the results in a series of glass pictures where the main characteristics of glass – transparency – is practically missing. Several significant places and fancies are documented as an afterimage, unique moments interpreted.

Mare Saare

My Archeology / Replica

Even though I have worked on My Archeology project for several years, I sometimes ask myself whether this may be called “art”. However, this project enables me to express social, philosophical, political questions. What I am urged to explore, is not artistic matters but the whole entity of human being and on-going events around the globe. Global economy has created our consumer society. And it seems to bring us some kind of “happiness”, even though there are so many problems increasing around the world such as climate changes, poverty or pollution. Ironically, our living style became convenient in many ways but today, it seems that the economy has become the most vital criteria for evaluating our values, way of living, and life itself.
The art project “Replica” may be interpreted in various ways. It has questions but not answers. Certainly, it does not demand “agreement”. By presenting the images that visually conflict each other, it allows us to focus on some critical issues around the globe and enables us to look at them from different perspectives beyond superiority and importance of the economy. Following the progress of an art project, my thoughts are also increased. Researching, experimenting and endless indulging in thought are the most funny part of art process. The art process is still very bizarre in a way. If there is something I attempt to make a statement of, it would be easier to verbalize or write a text. Obviously, no need of colours, shapes or objects at all… But I am aware of my nature that using a language of visual sensations enables me to express “something” intervening between the reality I observe and the imagination I have in my mind.

Kazushi Nakada

Conditions 2021
There are conditions that shrink down into seconds, stretch out for years or lock us up for an eternity. In some conditions, a second could last for hours and a week could pass like a day. Knots inside and around us affect our conditions and bend space and time. There could be several different conditions behind one particular knot and vice versa, one condition could consist of many knots from the past, present and future. There are some knots that will be untangled with time, and some knots that cannot be untied without cutting the knot. However, all knots are interconnected with each other by sharing the information and in this way, determining our current condition right now.

Kristiina Uslar