Golden flecks swirl and sparkle within the deep colours of the milky way. Mythological beings dance within the constellations mapping out new star charts for humanity to discover. Emotions spill out onto the canvas as Victoria Olt captures the divine essence contained within us all. At first glance, much of her work seems to reach far out into our ever expanding universe but it is much deeper than that. In fact, it is much more human as she seeks to paint windows into our very souls.
Victoria Olt is an Estonian mixed media artist known for blending classical realism with the vibrancy of contemporary art. Through surrealist portraits, Victoria creates what she likes to call “windows into the human soul”, where she dissects and exposes many of the complex emotions that humans have but try our best to hide and suppress. Her work aims to offer a sense of solace and belonging to those who may need it as humanity tries to navigate its way through a rather perplexing universe.
Alongside her own practice, she is also the proud owner of Victoria Olt Gallery located in Tallinn, Estonia. Established in February 2022, the gallery’s primary focus is on exhibiting young Estonian artists in order to liven up and inspire the local community. While the gallery was originally located in the heart of Tallinn’s Old Town, it has now moved into a new space with its own secret speakeasy cocktail bar creating a more sophisticated atmosphere for the gallery to shine in.
Inspiration usually finds me standing in front of a blank canvas.
Interview with Victoria Olt
Your paintings are so emotionally complex, unveiling the complicated sides of humanity we often tend to hide. How do you approach these complex themes within your work?
I approach my themes in a few different ways. Sometimes I have a clear idea of what I’m trying to convey from the start. But more often than not, I start painting before I realise what the painting is trying to express, I know there’s something there, I just need the act of painting and the time to get the thought to emerge from my subconscious into something I can hope to put into words or visuals.
Sometimes I’ll finish a painting in almost like a trance and sort of wake up to what the painting is. And then people ask how I made the painting and honestly I don’t know, it just happened.
Many of your works include space and mythological themes, are these subjects something you’ve always been drawn to?
I have been drawn to painting mythological characters as a way to learn more about how past cultures perceived their gods. It’s a fascinating topic for me. I grew up in Estonia, one of the least religious countries in the world, but my family was among the few who attended church. Even so, it never resonated with me, I always felt like a spectator in someone else’s world.
For a time, I thought religion was rather silly, but when I moved to Seville at 13, I witnessed firsthand how deeply it could touch people. That experience gave me a newfound appreciation for religion. Religious iconography has since become a recurring element in my work, as its symbolism is incredibly interesting.
Although I remain an atheist, my exploration of religion left me with both an appreciation for its beauty and curiosity about its role in human life. I believe that there’s a “God-shaped hole” in our souls, a longing for a higher purpose. Yet, no matter what I’ve tried, I haven’t figured out what belongs there.
I don’t think it’s necessarily God in a classic sense that fills this void, but something that gives life meaning. Many of my past series have been different attempts to explore and fill this emptiness. My first solo exhibition, Starchild, centered on astrology and the idea that the planets might guide our fate. The exhibition that followed, ‘I’ve Seen Love and It Looks Nothing Like This‘, explored whether romantic relationships could provide purpose.
My mythology series is yet another attempt to contemplate this question. In fact, I’ll be presenting a new exhibition, ‘Lost Gods II’, in the coming year, where I’ll explore gods from Hindu, Australian Aboriginal and Māori mythology.
Who inspires you?
Hmm this is a hard question to answer. Inspiration usually finds me standing in front of a blank canvas.
Tell us about the Alchemist Collection and what inspired you to create this hand-made collection!
I started making my own paint because I was trying to have more mastery of the medium of watercolour. I’ve been painting for a long time now so I wanted to get a new perspective. The alchemist is my first paint collection, it features colors that appear different on black vs white. I wanted those to be my first collection because there aren’t many colors like that in the market and I found myself really wanting to use something like that.
I have big plans on future paint collections and I have six or so waiting to launch at different times of completion. I was intending to launch them this summer but then my dehydrator malfunctioned and melted almost all of my pans. So I had to start over and I haven’t had too much time to deal with it since.
I find making my own paint leaves me a lot of flexibility in the colours that I can use. Often I’ll find myself wanting to use a specific color for a piece and I’ll just go and make it. It also allows me to use paints that aren’t commonly sold because they are too expensive to manufacture, like color changing paints or paints made out of semi-precious stones.
Alongside your own art practice you are also the owner of Victoria Olt Gallery, what was the driving force behind starting your gallery? Has it been something you’ve always wanted to do?
I have always wished there were more galleries that display figurative art, and then I found myself in a position where I had the opportunity to open my own gallery so I went for it.
We began in a space on Estonia’s busiest street, right in the heart of Old Town. It was an incredible starting point, but after three years, it was time to try something new. Now, we’re moving into a space that feels like the space I dreamt about years before starting this journey. It is a much larger, and more sophisticated venue that combines an art gallery with something unexpected: a secret speakeasy cocktail bar on the top floor.
I needed a very specific venue to make this vision come to life in a way that neither business would suffer in the process. It was extremely important to me that the gallery shows no signs of the existence of the speakeasy when walking in. But you also had to be able to see the art from the speakeasy. The way the space is now, the speakeasy is on the top floor in a loft type area, and half way covered with one way glass, so from the gallery downstairs you don’t see anything.
I know this is quite unconventional but I saw issues in the traditional gallery model, where the viewing experience is quite rushed, like you are supposed to glance at the art and move on. I felt like that needed to change, so that viewing art would be more of an experience.
In our new space, you can explore the gallery and then retreat to the speakeasy, a cozy, intimate loft overlooking the art below. It’s a place designed for slow viewing, meaningful conversations, and deeper connections with the artwork. It’s a place for people to linger, to look closer, and to discover something unexpected, about the art, about the space, and maybe even about themselves. That’s how I would like to look at art.
What does the current art scene look like in Estonia?
I’m quite impressed by the art scene in Estonia. There are many very talented artists working here right now. Here’s a short list of some of my faves: Ana Kurist, Margus Kongus, Marita Liivak, Liisa Addi, Eliis Kuusk, Maria Evestus and Kelli Pai among many more.
Also, there aren’t any one charcoal line on white canvas type of art galleries, that I just couldn’t escape from while living in Madrid and Amsterdam.
What have been some of your biggest career highlights as both a gallery owner and a practicing artist?
Tough pick, many wonderful things have happened in the recent years.I would say some of my career highlights have been of course my first solo show: “Starchild” that talked about how destiny and the stars might guide us.
Then along with my 3rd solo show, I published a book of poems and artwork with my all time favorite poet David Xam. He had a big influence on my work when I was starting out. Unfortunately, he has seemingly retired from poetry and wiped his poems from the internet. In that light, I feel like I was very fortunate that I could coax him to collaborate with me on this book and publish his poems along with my artwork.
I also held my first workshop this summer alongside Agnes Cecile, whose work has been a big inspiration to me. So it was really a dream come true to give a class along with her as equals.
However,The thing I am probably most proud of is all the artwork we have been able to find new homes for for our artists. I have been to art school and I have known many artists. It is really tragic how many extremely talented artists give up and stop creating artwork because it is simply too hard to pay your bills in this industry.
They say you vote with your wallet and this saying is extremely true in the art world. Every artwork or print a client buys is a vote for this person’s art career to keep existing. And you see the effects really easily. We had an artist that had a solo show with us a while ago where we sold almost all of the pieces. Imagine my surprise, when they told me that they had been planning to give up on art prior to the exhibition.
How do you keep the balance between your own practice and your work at the gallery?
Poorly :D
I try to save time on the weekends for painting. However, if there’s an emergency at the gallery then I have to prioritise that. When I’m preparing for an exhibition I try to paint in the afternoons after my most important tasks of the day have been handled but with us moving to a bigger space recently, time for painting (or for anything really) has become hard to come by.
Where do you see yourself and your gallery heading in the future?
I want to create a space where people can connect with art deeply, I want to sell enough art to keep our artists creating, and I want to nurture a community of artists and art enthusiasts.
On a more personal note, what do you do to relax and unwind?
When I first got started I didn’t do anything to unwind. The good thing about a career in art is that it has a lot of different facets, when you’re sick of painting, you can update your website, when you’re sick of that you can create social media content etc etc. So since you can vary your tasks it’s easy to work from waking up until going to bed. Now that I’m married I end my workday at 19:30 to go home to my husband. We like to go out or stay in and play some kind of overcomplicated dungeon crawler board game.
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