ABOUT MERU

ARTIST Meriliis Rinne alias MERU is an Estonian artist living and working in the UK.
She first studied law at the University of Tartu, which deepened her interest in paradoxes and social pressure, i.e., topics that she attempts to solve now as a painter.  

Her work has been exhibited in the UK and internationally including 58th Venice Biennale and Frieze art fair events in London with artist-led project Empire II.
She has been part of the TEDx Talks in UK 2014. Member of Art Society Soho and member of ArtCan- a growing art organisation for emerging contemporary artists. 

Her creative approach—no matter the medium—is to find points of tension behind the idea she has been assigned or interested in. Simply inspired by the human side of life and to transform “hate into love “like Louise Bourgeois would say - a paradox formulated by one of Meru's favourite artists. When a bee stings, the needle stays in the victim, but the bee dies. In the same way, one part of us dies every time we sting others. "This is one of the reasons to turn anger into love, because otherwise it will destroy us" - adds the artist.

Meru favours working from scratch making her own canvases using acrylic paints and oils but also anything she can from the environment to recycle - from newspapers to electronic pieces to make art.
The lack of a uniformed principle and need to be different  in her work is due her background having grown up at the end of the Soviet era which was itself a really uniformed matchbox environment. 

“To paint equals for me to plant a little bit of desire in people's hearts; a yearning to turn the head  and look and learn more about your idea, to dream, or just to feel better as there are always some things that never fade or go bad. Ultimately, it’s about creating memorable images.”

A big believer in giving back – she partly does this by helping fund raising efforts for children’s hospitals in Estonia and in the UK by creating artwork for charity auctions, as I feel that art work has more emotional value over money..