This exhibition of paintings by Maris Siimer was born out of love for the North. Like the Nordic nature, the northern rhythms and space-time, this love is unwavering and as eternal as anything on this earth. It is not a fleeting feeling or thought, not a flutter of wings, not a trivial twitter or glitter, but the slow, strong wing-stroke of a solitary bird and its cry that lingers long. Yet it does not remain a lonely cry – the essential elements always resonate, as do the souls of those whose home is the North. The North is where one feels every shimmer of the surface down to the very bottom. 

Every person probably has an inner compass pointing towards their soul’s home, whatever the direction. Some have a broken or an inaccurate one. Maris Siimer’s compass works flawlessly and points firmly to the North. The North is the call of the soul, the call of the blood. As if the veins were set so that everything flows North. The North is in the veins. 

Maris Siimer follows these principal veins. Humble, devoted to the basic elements and in awe of everything Created, she is looking for something and someone superior. It is a kind of religious quest, as one might imagine a journey of the hermit monks of centuries ago. Further and further to the North, away from the mundane bustle, although there was still land for a seemingly easier and more logical life for the body and soul in the South. Still, it was possible to search for and find oneself or get answers to the big questions in the North. It is what the blood said. And it is where the compass indicated. 

The Estonian author Tõnu Õnnepalu wrote, “we are already living such a fast life to still hold on to the Earth”. Maris manages to turn this daunting thought around in her paintings, if only for a moment. The Nordic space-time is not for rushing. That is something only the wind can do. All living things can only survive in respect and humility. Crouching, bowing, holding on, waiting, in order to understand: the constant, lavish bounty of the South may be alluring, while the transient blooming of the barely perceptible in the North brings a realisation that although everything is brief and temporary, there is actually time enough and more.

The North is the place. It creates a path to elevation. And suddenly, you feel the presence of someone or something invisible that scatters the mist, hides and reveals the mountains, sprinkles their tops with gentle snow, and creates all the half-tones of the earth, the air and the waters.

Estonian text by Veronika Kivisilla.
Photos: Kärt Petser