This is the first exhibition bringing together new works by two artists, Britta Benno (b. 1984) and Ida Nõmmerga (b. 2001). What connects their practices is a respect for material, an openness to being guided by it, and a quiet resistance to the idea of the perfectly finished artwork. Both artists prefer to work intuitively, combining different techniques and doing so in different countries: Britta mainly in Tallinn and Ida in Dresden.

There is usually little room for fragility, unfinished thoughts or experimentation in ideas of the “new” and the “perfect”. Yet, as we know, the essential often lies in the details – in those things that only reveal themselves when examined more closely.

Up close, you see the material and the dialogue it creates with technique and idea. You notice different methods and a playfulness carried by the material itself. Step back, and you see empty space within the composition, allowing the whole idea room to breathe and expand.

You see what leaves a trace: brush and oil paint; printing ink and press; pastel; the artist; the idea; time; people.

What trace does it leave in you? And what trace do you leave?

Britta´s work is created through an open and trusting process that combines drawing, painting and printmaking. At the centre of her creative process is the tension between mark and line, and an exploration of the point at which they become an image. She works in the margins where mixed media opens up new possibilities. Her process is slow and layered, adding textures and allowing translucent layers to glow against brown canvas or white paper. She wants the works to carry a sense of lightness and unexpected combinations, in dialogue with established techniques.

I draw on canvas and experiment with graphic prints, framing the works in frames made from recycled materials. Through recurring, spectral motifs — the seashell, the mountain, and the tent — I reflect on concealment, the telling of shadowy stories, and survival in today’s uncertain world.