Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Oil on canvas. 2018.
Signature: Ivar Kaasik

Originally from Saaremaa, but dividing his life between Estonia and Berlin since 1992, painter and jewelry artist Ivar Kaasik (b. 1965) is one of the most unique neo-photorealists in Estonian art. By combining various photographs, spatial manipulations, and painting techniques in a single composition, Kaasik achieves fascinating optical effects on canvas.

In the painting “Selfie” he plays with the image-within-an-image shot: a man standing directly towards the viewer is taking a picture of himself, but behind him is a woman, as if visible through a blind, with her back to the viewer. We do not see either person’s face, which simultaneously turns the work into an intriguing play on words – it is like a hidden picture or an ironic commentary on selfies as such. The sea that fills the composition and the seagulls flying in the foreground are one of Kaasik’s favorite motifs, recalling both freedom and the artist’s desire to relate to his native island of Saaremaa.

Text: Harry Liivrand