Seitsme mäe ja aia taga

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When I was a child, I visited a holy place without being aware of it. I only found out about it when the precious sanctuary was taken down to make a bigger field.

The altar exhibited in “Beyond the seven hills and fences” consists of three canvases caged behind a metal grid, contemplating the discovery of one's sacred place and the desire to reach it. It is a yearning for a time when one is no longer here or in the middle, but already there. A place where it is quiet, warm, and the light is abundant, as if there is always something sweet to eat with a cup of coffee.

Karola Ainsar (2000) is an Estonian painter whose painting practice is strongly influenced by religious studies, with a primary focus on new religious movements. She gathers materials from various scriptures and rituals, as well as their origin stories, to explore recurring motifs that are often set up as opposites, including earthly and heavenly, here and there beyond the veil, cleaniness and dirtiness, life and death, and above and below. There is often a liminal grey area between the two contrasting terms, which the artist gives the form of a fence that marks the border between the two areas. A fence may mark an area where one should not go, but sometimes it is one's home, where one cannot enter as the keys are missing.

Karola Ainsar studies painting at the Estonian Academy of Arts and has furthered her studies at the Painting Department of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, Slovakia. She is a member of the Estonian Contemporary Art Association (ENKKL), co-founder and gallerist of Täisnurga Gallery and has participated in group exhibitions in Estonia, Austria, Slovakia and Italy.

The exhibition is supported by Cultural Endowment of Estonia and Põhjala Brewery.

Graphic design by Richard Hronský.