The exhibition “Suuremjault mälëstustes“ (Mostly in Memories) is a solo showcase by Maryliis Teinfeldt-Grins, where the poetic imagery from her debut poetry collection released last summer, “Kivi alla kükakille” (Crouching Under a Stone), meet with stories of longing expressed through embroidery.

The exhibition is rooted in the concept of loss. It originates from something that has been forever lost and can never be captured, as it begins to take shape from the moment of disappearance. This void cannot be filled by anything; paradoxically, it manifests solely as boundless nostalgia and longing.

On display, the artist presents a series of embroidered landscapes – places that have taken shape only in the artist’s memories. In creating these works, she was inspired by French historian and philosopher Michel de Certeau’s concept of récits d’espace, or spatial stories, where landscape and narrative meet. Each story is a traveller’s tale, meaning it is a spatial practice that traverses different places within a landscape.

Maryliis Teinfeldt-Grins (born 1993) is an artist who tells stories of longing through landscape imagery. She combines embroidery, photography, tapestry, drawing and dialect poetry in her work. Teinfeldt-Grins graduated with a BA in Textile from Pallas University of Applied Sciences in 2015 and furthered her education at the Art Academy of Latvia’s Department of Textile Art. She continued her studies in the Contemporary Art programme at the Estonian Academy of Arts (MA, 2022). She has been recognised with several Estonian art awards: the Eduard Wiiralt Scholarship (2019) and the Adamson-Eric Scholarship (2021). She has also received literary awards, including being a laureate of the Prima Vista literary festival’s First Step Award and the main prize winner of the Hendrik Adamson dialect poetry competition. In 2019, she received the Young Textile Artist of the Year Award from the Estonian Textile Artists’ Association. Her works are part of the collection at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design and have won awards in public art competitions (Pärnu Riigimaja). She is a member of the Estonian Textile Artists’ Association and the Estonian Artists’ Association.

Graphic design: Else Mare Lagerspetz
Videography: Red Serberth OÜ
Supported by: Cultural Endowment of Estonia

The artist wishes to thank: Tütar Gallery