Are feelings restrictive or liberating? Rain, wind, sea and the blinding sun — Tuulikki Tolli is a person who feels most like herself near water, sea or rocks. It is exactly that — the vicinity of water that enables her to feel the most. And feelings — feelings need expression — to throw shoes on the side of the road and disappear barefoot under the stormy clouds.

Rainline, Sunwater, Height, Melody, Observer and Window are stories which Tuulikki has painted on her exhibition works. They’re stories that instead of being direct, communicate through a composition that encompasses the artist’s and the viewer’s senses. The works hint at different themes without obliging the audience. To see and to feel is to be free. Feelings might allude to compositions that consist of soft lines which unfold the artist’s cadence of perception. Yet, all of Tuulikki’s paintings are strong and geometric where one colour space intersects with another, incorporating the classic reds and blues of Expressionism. Fade-into-the-distance-softness is created by yellow and gray surfaces which are filled with contrasts.  

Tuulikki is as colourful as her paintings. ‘Geometry and mathematics have always been interesting to me,’ says Tuulikki. In reality, she doesn’t like to say much but when she does, she always adds her own emotional tone to the conversation. 

The newest creations of Tuulikki Tolli, who is mostly known as a theatre artist, are exhibited in Haus Gallery from August. Certain theatrical lighting can be recognisable in her works as well as it almost has a life of its own. 

Tuulikki Tolli studied in the painting department of the Estonian Academy of Arts from 1976 to 1982, graduating as a theatre artist. She has designed theatre productions and costumes since 1980, collaborating with almost every Estonian theatre. She has also created costume designs for films. Since 1990, Tolli is a member of the Estonian Artists’ Association and the Estonian Theatre Union. She has held lectures in Finland and is currently teaching history of costume at the Tallinn Industrial Education Center. Tuulikki has participated in numerous exhibitions throughout her creative years — creating primarily in watercolour. The diffusion which is intrinsic to watercolour is also apparent in the treatment of her current painting surfaces. 

It is also important to mention Tuulikki’s mother Vive Tolli who was a graphic artist and her father Lembit Tolli who both played a role in developing their daughter’s art and personality.