Party With Red Cow

In 2011 Kairo created a stenciled version of Paul Kondas’s Strawberry Eaters under a bridge in Tartu to pay homage to the naivist painter. Nine years and many unknown contributors later she redrew details of what the piece of street art has evolved into, curse words and all. Artist Stamped, Pencil Numbered.

Growing up next to a small fishery Kairo spent her days in the bushes playing with bows and arrows and building tree houses with the other kids to escape the alcoholism rampant among male relatives. Since close-ups of various leaves and blossoms carried positive connotations of freedom, safety and adventure, Art Nouveau firmly captured the developing artist’s attention. Critics have noted that her use of color and composition seem surprisingly out of place under the gray Estonian skies. The artist partly attributes this not to exposure to any tropical culture but to her grandmother’s floral aprons and decorated porcelain dishes.
Her first favorites were Paul Gauiguin and Frida Kahlo. She also explored the stories of other artists such as Adolf Wölfli, Seraphine de Senlis, Henry Darger, Henri Rousseau and Estonian naivist painter Paul Kondas in the hopes of better understanding how her work relates to the multifaceted tradition of self-taught art.
Kairo’s intuitively constructed and less personal earlier work has gradually become more autobiographical, oftentimes depicting herself, her partner, and their children. In many cases, painting can be an introspective tool. Kairo’s characters sometimes have bright red skin, as the color evokes strength and robust health she wishes to possess herself. She employs various symbols to hint at the story or impulse behind a painting, such as the strawberry. Originating from one of Kondas’s paintings The Strawberry Eaters, she uses it to signify the innate creative force that can run dry but also regenerate. She varies and repeats it like a personal mantra hoping that the uncertain path of an uneducated free-lance painter won’t eventually lead to ruin but to self-realization in service of the divine spark of life.

Sunset Velvet Rag 315g (20mil) boasts a 100% cotton rag base, with a velvet (or etching-like) surface. This paper is designed to meet the highest printing standards needed for museum quality, limited edition prints.

Sunset Velvet Rag is a 2010 Hot One Award winner.

Each full series of a work also includes eight Owners’ Edition prints, which are not offered for public sale. Originals may be available. Contact us for details.