Heikki Leis

Artist's country of origin: Estonia

Heikki Leis (born 1973) is a Tartu-based artist known mainly for his hyperrealist pencil drawings of famous Estonians. He graduated the Tartu Art College as a sculptor in 1991 , and he has been a freelance artist since 2000.

Leis’ imaginative set-piece photographs explore the aesthetic codes familiar from lifestyle/fashion/women’s magazines, telling stories that invite viewers to notice everything unusual and unreal in their surroundings. The title of the series “Teenage Exorcist” (2014-2015) says it all – the main character drives out evil spirits, both self-purging and cleansing the environment.