Marit Ilison’s exhibition “LIVING/ROOM” brings a total environment created by the artist into the museum gallery. The exhibition presents Ilison’s work from the past decade, during which her creative focus has shifted from fashion design toward spatial, interior, and environmental design.

“One of my creative exercises is to imagine the ideal environment for any given object, training both my mind and eye to recognize aspects of beauty even in visually unappealing objects. My inner compass constantly guides me toward creating beauty, harmony, and a sense of well-being,” Ilison describes her creative process.

Internationally acclaimed conceptual fashion designer Marit Ilison has in recent years focused on interior design solutions, product development, and creative direction. For her, a garment is a person’s first space, and moving toward the design of interiors and holistic environments has been a natural continuation of her creative journey.

In her spatial design practice, the artist seeks to highlight so-called “non-places” and apparent imperfections, transforming the negative aspects of a space into positive ones within practical projects. This process resembles the creation of a site-specific installation: it requires responding closely to the space itself while also considering the client’s expectations and the constraints of the project.

“LIVING/ROOM” brings together both objects designed by Ilison and historical pieces, most of which have been further developed specifically for the exhibition. The pattern “Waterlily”, created at Marit Ilison Creative Atelier in 2018, has appeared across several collections and found its way into interior textiles. The pattern of the rug “Wild Peonies” is likewise an interpretation of the pattern from the coat in the collection “Longing For Sleep”, which belongs to the collection of the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design. The display cabinet draws inspiration from a typology that was common several decades ago. The lighting series “Enchanting Blossoms” is an evolving collection inspired by medicinal plants, in which each new element grows out of the original source. These plant-inspired luminaires carry forward the symbolic power traditionally attributed to the plants themselves.

As visitors can also sense throughout the exhibition, the most important elements in Marit Ilison’s work are beauty, meaning, and emotion – the poetry of creation.

Marit Ilison (b. 1984) is an interdisciplinary artist and designer whose primary interest lies in the relationship between the body and space. She has created fashion collections, site-specific installations, costumes, music, exhibition designs, and stage designs, and works daily together with her brother under the name Peeter Ilison Creative Atelier. Ilison has designed the interiors of Lore Bistroo, Päris Resto, Restaurant Uma, among others. Her accolades include Vogue Talent and Success Story recognition, the London Fashion Week International Fashion Showcase Award Grand Prix, the SÄSI Young Designer Award, and the Kristjan Raud Art Prize (all awarded in 2014). Since 2024, Marit Ilison has served as the resident artist of the Tallinn City Theatre.