On January 15th at 18.00 we invite you to the opening of Anna-Liisa Sääsk’s exhibition, “Taltsutades musta/ Taming the Black” at TYPA Balcony gallery.
The exhibition features works created in the mezzotint technique, as well as a room-filling paper panel that the artist will cover with drawings on site over the course of two days. The exhibition title refers to the relationship between opposing forces — black and white. Just as a graphic artist works in the space between these two forces, taming halftones to submit to their will, the same tension between darkness and light persists in the surrounding world.
From this very tension emerges the central theme of the exhibition: empathy. In contrast to today’s fast-paced rhythm dominated by opinions and positions, the exhibition invites the viewer to slow down and become more attentive and caring toward their surroundings. Empathy is understood here as an active process — one that requires presence, patience, and a willingness to remain open, rather than choosing sides. The focus is on the process, not on a rigidly structured finished product.
In a world that tends to polarize rapidly, this serves as a reminder of something far more important: the need to care and to be cared for, to sense the beauty and pain of other living beings as an inseparable part of oneself. In recalling this, the boundary between “self” and “other” may begin to soften.
Artist: Anna-Liisa Sääsk
Curator: Inessa Saarits
The exhibition will stay open from 15th January til 8th February in the Balcony gallery, situated at Kastani 42, in Aparaaditehas’ courtyard, entrance door number 7, second floor. Gallery is open from Wed-Sun 12-18.
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Anna-Liisa is an Estonian artist living in Georgia. She draws inspiration from traditional printmaking techniques and close attention to detail, while connecting them with contemporary urgent themes and newer media. In the summer of 2025, she opened an exhibition at GÜ Gallery in the ARS Art Factory together with Georgian artist Irakli Toklikishvili. Anna-Liisa is a member of the Estonian Association of Printmakers and a founding member of the youth art event Kunstikompott.
Inessa Saarits explores intersections between art and biology in her practice. She is interested in natural, time-based materials and examines the relationship between humans and nature in her work, using elements such as tree bark marked by bark beetle tunnels and microorganisms filmed under a microscope. Saarits graduated from the Installation and Sculpture Department of the Estonian Academy of Arts and has furthered her studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. She is a member of ENKKL and a founding member of the youth art event Kunstikompott.