Jaan Toomik (born 1961) is internationally established Estonian artist but at the same time he’s most polemicized in local art scene. Jaan Toomik began his work in late 1980s as expressive painter. Canvases from that period mix mystical state of minds with severe corporeality and mandalas with perverse Christian iconography. At the beginning of 1990s his paintings acquired actions with primordial elements to excite the sensibilities. As his works turned more reflective and impersonal, they became also in contact with the international art world. From the installation art Jaan Toomik found his characteristic medium, austere and impersonal in form but with highly suggestive content. Jaan Toomik was one of the first Estonian artists in 1994 who took the advantage of the new medium installation video.

Photo: Stanislav Stepaško