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ICE – SUFFICE

Ilona Treiman 16.12–15.01.2018

The central theme of the current exhibition is the Estonian homonym “jää” (“ice”). Ideas are wandering to the unknown just like moving along fragile ice through which transparent messages are being revealed.

– The thinner the ICE, the bigger the will to learn if it will endure the human weight
– The present moment is the time that will be never SUFFICE.

“In my work, I record moments, findings, vanishing elements, symbols, words, touches … into the fragile ice / resin while trying to create unique memories, pieces of jewellery and miniature sculpture. I experiment with material while uniting precious metals, pieces of feathers, crystals, seeds, plants, stones, fossils, horsehair, transparent resin that imitates ice. A unique tension but also harmony and balance will arise between various materials. I try to include both happiness and sadness, moments of bitterness, hours borrowed from tomorrow in my work; a new output is being born in a lifeless transparent material. Vanishing traces, signs and words are revived in exhibition pieces and enter into a dialogue with the audience. Through my artwork I contemplate on the situation of both eternity and present moment. Moments must be cherished the same way as precious metals; thus, the piece of jewellery that one wears every day is the biggest treasure. You are the one creating value. Oscar Wilde has stated that nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing. A ring or a bracelet made out of familiar birch bark may acquire special meaning. My purpose is to awake emotions, values and conversation in people.
A human being is vain by nature – wearing jewellery gives us possibility to carry stories, thoughts, pieces of our past with us – all this give birth to new stories and impulses.
Already the ancient peoples have dressed up and decorated themselves that has given them unbelievable power. I also invite the guests of the exhibition to take a look at the past, the future and the vanishing things surrounding us – maybe these will be revived in some way and this will become a form of communication with the closed ones.
The vanishing ICE in the Arctic is a worrying fact that is changing geography, fauna and flora. Sometimes it seems that I attempt to record the last traces of things such as the ripe flower bud of a thistle or the white lightweight parts of feathers floating in the air. Let us catch the moments …
With the present exhibition I am therefore drawing the viewers’ attention to global issues such as climate change: melting of ICE and raising temperatures – how this will influence nature, currents of air, winds? There are more questions than answers at the moment. Changes have been enormous; but if we will raise our consciousness then perhaps we might move to the right direction with our actions.
And lastly: the one who changes with time will never become obsolete – even the fragile ice will carry them.

There must be ICE. No ICE will not SUFFICE …