NOBA Nordic Baltic contemporary art platform

Impersonal self-portrait. The daily choice to be seen or to hide, 2025

40 x 30 cm

Pinhole photographs on expired silver gelatin paper, pinhole on glass negative, glazed black clay, cardboard, three door peepholes, LED lights, mock-up table, wooden jewelry box (pinhole camera), tripod, hourglass, wooden slat, sheet glass. Photo series 30 x 40 cm, glass negative 18 x 24 cm, other: variable dimensions


In my artworks and implementations, I strive to leave space — to be delicate. To listen and understand, rather than to change or correct. I often turn to existing, old, expired materials — things that have already been used or that someone else has discarded. I have been reflecting on the idea that new photographic paper can feel too direct, too raw, too high in contrast. Perhaps it depicts life too much in black-and-white? Expired paper, on the other hand, seems to have been retired. Its mandatory working hours are over. It no longer has to perform the function for which it was made. It carries no responsibility, offers no guarantees. It is no longer obliged to be polite or remain within the bounds of what is considered normative.

My goal is to explore ways for letting go of control, welcoming randomness, acknowledging my slowness, devising a pause that would not equal escape, and to amplify creativity’s connection to boundaries and play.


More art by this artist

Painting

How to remember that, which I didn't see? Daria by Tea Lemberpuu
How to remember that, which I didn't see? Daria  
40 x 40 cm
€900
How to remember that, which I didn't see? Kadri by Tea Lemberpuu
How to remember that, which I didn't see? Kadri  
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€1200
How to remember that, which I didn’t see? Adelina as a man) by Tea Lemberpuu
How to remember that, which I didn’t see? Adelina as a man)  
30 x 30 cm
€900

Photography

Impersonal self-portrait. The daily choice to be seen by Tea Lemberpuu
Impersonal self-portrait. The daily choice to be seen  
24 x 18 cm

Mixed media

Woman, cornered by Tea Lemberpuu
Woman, cornered  
70 x 73 cm
€600