This was my first painting and solo exhibition.

There is always something a little uncertain, tentative, and searching about beginning.
A search within the soul and within painting technique.

HORTUS – or, the garden.
Hortus is the Latin word for “garden.” For me, it represents a space that holds everything we might need at a given moment as human beings. A garden and a space within ourselves.

To view that garden from afar, to move from tiny details toward a broader vision – to paint boldly and expansively, without control, without fear of making mistakes. To reach a larger picture. To reach abstraction. To reach an inner space where secret gates appear, guiding you forward. These are hidden gates. To come to the realisation that the garden is within you – the place where everything begins to sprout, everything grows, and where all the fruits you desire can be harvested.

Alongside the idea of painting with bold brushstrokes, there are also delicate painterly details – the layers of colour that, on one hand, reflect the artist’s uncertainty, in other words, youth and experimentation; and on the other hand, symbolise flow, change, maturation, and devotion. Layers, just like in life – within the soul and society.

Yes… to observe from a distance and realise how much beauty, depth, and boundlessness exists in this garden.
To experience more than what is tangible or visible to the eye.
A soul-garden.

Photos: Annika Vihmann