17.4.–27.9.2026

Sculptor Edith Karlson has created a world inhabited by humans, animals, and mythical creatures.

About
Edith Karlson’s exhibition confronts visitors with four-metre giants, a skeleton arching across the hall, and an entire army riding toward its inevitable fate – while birds watch on silently. By a well, mermaids rise from the water to witness the consequences of human destruction on sea and land.

Mythical characters, for Karlson, are a vehicle for exploring questions that reason alone cannot answer. Prehistory, fossils, and archaeology also provide enduring inspiration. Humans and animals are united by instinct, a tenacious will to survive, and the ability to adapt – themes she consistently examines in her practice.

Karlson employs a diverse array of materials, including clay, concrete, and silicone, creating works that often retain a raw, unfinished quality. Many pieces are left unglazed, their surfaces rough, evoking processes of transformation and transition. Birds and snakes capable of shedding their skin are recurring motifs, symbolising continual renewal.

About the artist
Edith Karlson (b. 1983) lives and works in Tallinn. She has exhibited widely in Estonia and internationally, most recently at the Sapieha Palace Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius (2025), the Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (2021), the Estonian Art Museum KUMU (2019–2020), and the Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig (2018). She represented Estonia at the 2024 Venice Biennale.

Curator
The exhibition is curated by Piia Oksanen from Kiasma.