“Freed by Painting” by Marje Üksine

On Monday, April 28, 2025, at 18.00, Marje Üksine will open her first watercolour exhibition, Freed by Painting, at the Draakon gallery. The exhibition will remain on view until May 24, 2025.

Marje Üksine’s subtly colourful graphic works from recent decades captivate with their bold, clear geometric forms. Upon closer observation, these structured forms reveal dreamlike fragments of nature – reminiscent of fading memories. Nature continues to serve as a source of inspiration in her watercolour practice.

Her works from the 55th anniversary exhibition of the Estonian Watercolour Society at the National Library in 2013 left a lasting impression. By that time, she had participated in watercolour exhibitions for a few years. Her watercolours engaged audiences through an unexpectedly vivid colour palette and a sense of painterly freedom. While maintaining her vibrancy, Üksine’s recent watercolours increasingly explore the medium’s inherent lightness and airiness. Yet a graphic artist’s sensibility is still evident in her incorporation of line. Such flowing, dynamic lines, as seen in works like Wonderful Morning, and in her earlier works, evoke intriguing mirrored effects. Üksine has created figurative works in her graphic art, a focus that continues in her watercolours, where lightly outlined characters are complemented by vibrant heaps of color – like cornucopias under their arms or hats balanced on their heads.

Mai Levin

Marje Üksine (1945) graduated in 1970 from the State Art Institute of Estonia with a degree in graphic art. Since then, she has been actively exhibiting her work both in Estonia and internationally. Üksine is best known as a graphic artist, though her body of work also includes drawings and watercolours. Her works are distinguished by precision and technical finesse; delicate lines are masterfully combined with bold fields of color. Her landscape-oriented compositions often blend references to urban environments and nature with abstract forms and intricate ornaments. She has participated in numerous international exhibitions and graphic biennials, including those in Ljubljana, Fredrikstad, Kraków, Banská Bystrica, Frechen, Florence, Baden-Baden, Maastricht, and Varna, as well as graphic triennials in Jyväskylä, Chamalières, and Sofia. In addition to Estonia, her solo exhibitions have been held in Finland, Sweden, the USA, Germany, Russia, and Denmark.

Üksine has been a member of the Estonian Artists' Association since 1974 and was named an honorary member in 2014. She is also a member of the Association of Estonian Printmakers since 1992 and the Estonian Watercolour Society since 2012. Her work has received numerous awards, including two special prizes at the Tallinn Print Triennial (1983), a special prize at the Riga Small Graphic Triennial (1987), the grand prize at the Vilnius Artist’s Book Triennial (1987), and the “Manu Propria” award at the Tallinn International Drawing Triennial (2009). She also received the main prize in the Estonian National Library From the Artist to the Library competition exhibition (2013) and the Eduard Wiiralt Prize (2015). In 2023, she was honored with the Kristjan Raud Award.

The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Exhibitions at the Draakon gallery are supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, the Estonian Ministry of Culture, and Liviko AS.

Additional information:
Draakon Gallery
Tel:  +372 5645 1591
       +372 528 5324
       +372 6 276 777
E-mail: galerii@eaa.ee
Pikk 18, 10133 Tallinn
www.hobusepeadraakon.ee
Mon–Fri 11.00–18.00
Sat 11.00–17.0