Tedresaar mainly focuses on landscapes that people have reshaped and reformed. These are the places where the minerals and natural resources that are important for the everyday life in our techno-centric world come from. We don’t think about all of this often, but as a result of obtaining them, the natural species and environments of these areas perish and the pursuit of financial gains leads to the suffering of innumerable masses.
Structurally, Tedresaar continues with his project of using pieces of canvas as a method of upcycling. The abstract compositions are based on aerial photography and they are the result of sewing and gluing together linen canvases with different structures. The material has been treated with layers of pigment and the various surfaces resemble the glow of watercolours.
The artist adds: “I try to make the viewers think about the impact of their everyday habits and to sense the processes on a wider scale. The world needs changes but individuals don’t want to carry them out since this would transform their level of comfort. However, when production occurs somewhere else, we don’t have to think about it. Enormous oil platforms in oceans, the melting of the Arctic ice, permanently destroyed species and millions of people dying annually because of air pollution are all ‘somewhere there’, nobody wants to take the blame. But who do we blame for the temptations that we create for ourselves?”
Edgar Tedresaar (b 1984) has studied painting at the Tartu Art College and the University of Tartu. Besides his work as a painter, Tedresaar alongside the group Piiritus are some of the most esteemed muralists in Estonia. His last solo exhibition in the Tartu Art House was in 2016 in the monumental gallery.
Sound work: Indrek Asukül, Talis Paide.
Video work: Sten Saarits.
Texts: Margit Lõhmus, Maarja Pärtna, Piret Põldver.
