Ksenia Sulaeva “Resilient Light”

On Wednesday, January 28 at 5 PM, Ksenia Sulaeva’s solo exhibition “Resilient Light” will open at the Endla Theatre Gallery*. You are warmly invited!

This exhibition explores how brightness and chromatic tension can be organized in painting in such a way that they remain present under prolonged viewing. “Resilient light” here refers not to a source of illumination, but to the way an image sustains intensity and coherence over time.

In the works presented, light is determined not by effects or by the illusion of volume, but by the internal structure of the image itself. The black contour, executed in ink, functions as a load-bearing system: it fixes boundaries, rhythm, and formal tension. The line assumes the role of structure and measure. Within these boundaries, colour unfolds with full force - it interacts, collides, resonates, forms a dense emotional field, and remains contained within the composition. In this way, a principle of resilience emerges: intensity is held by form.

This principle remains consistent across changes of scale. It operates equally in large canvases and in small-format works on paper. Light appears here as a property of an integrated system rather than as an effect of size or external influence. Resilience is manifested in the image’s capacity to preserve tension and clarity as the conditions of perception and the duration of the viewer’s engagement change.

Motifs of the face, the heart, flowering, and touch form the conceptual anchors of the exhibition. The face functions as a surface of presence; the heart establishes an internal rhythm; flowering marks a state of surplus life; touch denotes a moment of encounter and the meeting of boundaries. These elements do not illustrate emotions but act as forms of containment, translating emotion into a state capable of being sustained over time.

In a number of works, the painted surface is complemented by embroidery using sequins and beads. This technique introduces an element of manual, repetitive action and an additional layer of concentration into the paintings. The embroidery accentuates specific areas of the image, intensifies the sense of density and surface tension, and adds a temporal dimension - light here does not appear instantaneously, but seems to accumulate through a sequence of gestures. This slow process aligns with the exhibition’s broader understanding of resilience as a process rather than an effect.

The materials support this logic. Acrylic provides density and chromatic saturation; ink establishes finality of form and clarity of decision; embroidery anchors attention and time. In their relationship, the central theme of the exhibition is articulated: resilience as the result of tension between freedom and measure, impulse and responsibility for it.

The exhibition speaks to the ability to remain alive within the intensity of feeling, closeness, inner conflict, and beauty, while retaining form. In an environment of accelerated attention and constant смена impressions, resilience becomes a rare quality. Here it appears as the capacity to sustain brightness and duration simultaneously. Resilient light is what remains with the image and with the viewer after the initial impression has passed.

Ksenia Sulaeva (born 1995, Rubizhne, Luhansk region, Ukraine) is a visual artist based in Tallinn, Estonia. She started drawing in early childhood. Her first introduction to visual art came through her father, who was also an artist and provided her initial training. From the age of eight, Sulaeva studied at the Children’s Art School in Rubizhne, where she completed eight years of formal art education.

In 2011, she enrolled in the College of the Luhansk State Academy of Culture and Arts named after M. Matusovsky (LGAKKI), specialising in easel painting. In 2015, she continued her education at the Lviv National Academy of Arts (LNAA) , Department of Monumental Painting, where her studies focused on large-scale composition, structure, and pictorial thinking. She graduated from the Academy in 2019. Later in 2019, Sulaeva moved to Tallinn, Estonia, where she completed a volunteer programme at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre (UKK) in the Old Town, contributing as an artist. After the programme, she remained in Estonia and began developing her professional artistic practice.

Since then, she has been working as a painter, producing works in a range of formats from monumental canvases to small-scale paintings. Alongside her studio practice, she has participated in exhibitions, conducted workshops related to her painting approach, and created wall paintings. She continues to develop her technique and personal visual language through ongoing work and exhibition activity.

She currently lives and works in Estonia.

Exhibitions at Endla Theatre can be accessed through the cafe entrance Tue–Fri 11:00–17:00 and Sat 11:00–14:00. Admission is free.

_______________________________

*Due to renovation works at the Pärnu Town Hall (Uus 4), Pärnu City Gallery exhibitions will take place in the Endla Theatre Gallery (Keskväljak 1) until autumn 2026.