Exploring autobiographical topics and those encompassing life’s circles, Ingrid Allik has chosen to pursue free creative work as a ceramicist. Curious for experiments and mindful of the creative process, Allik is constantly changing and evolving as an artist without imposing restrictions on her work in terms of media or dimensions.

Her art practice ranges from individual objects to large-scale installations. Original pieces by the artist often occur alongside collected objects, amplifying each other, telling stories of past memories and experiences.

The idea for this exhibition grew out of a beloved childhood game, which combined the urge to hide ‘treasures’ with that of letting them be seen. The artist presents her collection where artworks are juxtaposed with personally meaningful objects and materials collected over the decades. The viewer is involved in a game where searching for secrets means actively intervening, discovering, experiencing, and exploring the installation set up in the gallery space.

Ingrid Allik (1958) graduated from the ceramics department of the State Art Institute of Estonian SSRin 1981. After graduating, she worked as an artist-decorator in the Siimusti workshop of the Tallinn Industrial Ceramics Factory. An interest in Japanese culture and ceramics, which had emerged during university studies, led to a long-distance training program at the Kokusai Ikebana Institute. Since 1987, she has worked as a freelance artist and an inspiring and esteemed lecturer in the ceramics department of the Estonian Academy of Arts. Ingrid Allik was one of the first Estonian ceramicists to start using the Japanese raku technique in her work. In 2004, she defended her MA thesis on the raku technique at the Estonian Academy of Arts and in 2010 published a manual on the subject (Raku. Kujunemine ja kogemus).

She has been taking part in exhibitions since 1984 and has since 1989 participated in workshops, residencies and conferences in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Denmark, Tasmania, Japan, the USA, and Russia.

Ingrid Allik is a member of the Estonian Artists Association, the Ceramicists Association, and the Estonia-Japan Association. She received the title of Ceramicist of the Year in 2010, 2020, the Estonian Academy of Arts Creative Award in 2019 and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia annual award in visual and applied arts in 2020.

The works of Ingrid Allik can be found in the collections of the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, Estonian History Museum, and Tallinn City Museum, as well as various collections in Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, the USA, Germany, and Japan.

Graphic design: Tuuli Aule
Exhibition team: Ketli Tiitsar, Toomas Übner
Language editor: Hille Saluäär/Antenna OÜ
Translation: Refiner Translations
Thanks: Tõnu Narro, EKA Department of Ceramics, Urmas Puhkan, Keidi Jaakson, Triin Lehismets, Andres Allik, Mattias Allik, Eve Koha, Iris Orasjärvi, João Araújo, Arvīds Endziņš, Urmas Lüüs, Anne Metsis, Leena Kuutma, Kris Lemsalu, Eve Kaaret, Kristi Paap, mother, father, Estonian Cultural Endowment, Covid-19 virus, friends and companions.

Publications

Leaflet “Ingrid Allik. Sekret/Cekrpet: A-hide and seek of memories”

Gallery

Photos: Hedi Jaansoo