The basis for the coping mechanism in our society is petroleum that has emerged from the organic substance deposited either in the seabed or underground 300 million years ago. What kind of material for the future we are creating with today’s sediments?
Laivi (Laivi Suurväli) is a freelance artist who in her creative practice searches alternatives in order to analyse fashion as a phenomenon. Laivi works with the major components of fashion design: materials, apparel, body (and the lack of it) and space. The recurring keywords of Laivi’s artwork are: identity design, yearning and addiction, production and consumption, preservation and destruction, assessment of value. Demystifying the desirous essence of fashion as well as entering the dialogue with the consumer would be one possibility to discuss the subject of zeitgeist in today’s society absorbed in contemporary crises.
Laivi’s creative practice is characterized by material-based and experimental approach towards textile; while the approach is extending from apparel and accessories to sculptural installations and large-scale artwork on canvas. She analyzes clothing and methods of body covering in visual-aesthetic, functional and expressive ways.
Laivi has obtained BA degree in fashion design at the Estonian Academy of Arts and MA degree in Aalto University, Helsinki. She has studied and worked in London, Copenhagen and Barcelona. Since 2014, Laivi has participated in several group exhibitions of contemporary art and held personal exhibitions.
Exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Exhibitions in Hobusepea gallery are supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Estonian Ministry of Culture and Liviko Ltd.
