My posts about my artwork necessarily are created after I finish them, and frequently more time passes to allow me to properly photograph and color correct the image, because I’m deciding between title options, in order to space my posts out a bit instead of posting in clumps… which is all to say that I actually managed to finish my first five paintings by June 17, even though they weren’t all online yet.
On June 18, residency director Taje Tross asked the Pärnu Keskraamatukogu (Central Library) if they would be willing to host an exhibition of my work sometime this month before I leave, and I assumed they’d be considering a shorter show toward the end of the month - but instead they graciously agreed and asked that I show up the next day to install such that my exhibition ran from June 19-June 30! What luck: this is one of the longest international shows I’ve had as a part of a residency, and definitely the earliest. I am so appreciative I was given the opportunity to share my artwork in such a public gallery for so long (40% of the residency period!).
I brought all five finished paintings, along with a bunch of my greeting cards, and was given a prime set of exhibition tables with protective covers! If I finish more paintings during the show’s duration, I can bring them in as well. I set up the show in their first floor gallery, and then returned to the residency to send off my exhibition information which I’m providing below.
Textiles and Territories
by Shelby Prindaville (USA)
This exhibition brings together paintings exploring Estonian ecology, domestic craft, folklore, and geopolitics. Lace, felt, and jacquard trim carry the warmth and care of traditional women's work. Set against that softness, perfokaart (Soviet-era punch cards) and a repurposed crochet panel become surfaces for gulls recast as drones, a collision between domestic inheritance and the machinery of surveillance and war.
I was also able to swing by again shortly after installation with my new friend and nature guide Marko Poolamets on our way out of town to Soomaa National Park, and library director Krista Visas was checking it out as well! She was so warm and professional - she was pleased with the installation and happy to hear I had already sent her my show information. She sprang into action by putting it on social media immediately: their website homepage, news page, Facebook and Facebook stories were all updated the same day. It was also posted on the Tana Parnus events page.. Below are some screenshots of that publicity! You can click on any of the images below to see them larger.
Next, some exhibition shots:
