Sergei Isupov & Kadri Pärnamets in CLAYTOPIA Summer Festival | Guldagergaard, Skælskør, Denmark

As Kadri contemplates this body of work and what it means to her, she considers the physical and figurative flows of energy and matter in her personal life, her creative process, and the greater push and pulls occurring in the world: 

“Everywhere we are surrounded by water, but there are different seas on all sides of us. The seas back home are completely different from the oceans here in the US. Some are calm, some appear scary. Even though it’s all the same water, its characteristics are completely different depending on where you stand.

With so many crazy events happening in the world, on our changing planet, we need ways to ground ourselves. On the physiological level, our moods and ideas change constantly, affecting our day-to-day lives and the people around us. We often need a break from the waves despite the constant movement. Even when the waves are calm, there is still motion, a continuous ebb and flow. My smaller wave forms speak to this feeling of the “sea”; the changing tide, the lows and highs, the stillness and turbulence. Waves themselves move and interact differently, and not just by themselves, but by much larger, planetary forces beyond their control. They, like us, are knocked over, moved, and forced to interact and change with each new moment. My fire sculpture represents the grounding force that keeps us moving through this.”

The fire sculpture was built on-site, in situ, at Guldagergaard over multiple days. The Guldagergaard grounds became her studio, with the sculpture exposed to nature’s changing conditions. The bulbous, biomorphic contours Kadri included in the fire sculpture form reference motifs seen on her cups, vases, and cloud forms. She’s included horizontal line gestures through the middle of the piece to represent the coalescence of sea to sky, and the abrupt clashes and waning between waves. As she composed her fire sculpture, Kadri expected the contours, ideas, and intentions to shift as she worked. She had to work quickly, engaging her full strength of skill and technique to problem solve as the material dried and reacted to its outdoor environment. This unpredictability informed and dictated how the piece evolved in its physical qualities, in conversation or contradiction with the forms Kadri imagined in her mind. She encourages the viewer to contemplate their own moments of change, grounding forces, melodies and harmonies in their own lives.