Laura Põld (1984) is an Estonian artist continuously exploring fundamental human (and animal) needs, including community, safety and shelter. She often combines specific histories or qualities of a given location with her materially sensitive work, including traditional handiwork and building techniques like (primitive) ceramics and embroidery. Her practice weaves together natural, context-specific and interdisciplinary elements, often engaging in collaborative endeavours.

The mask was part of the installation “Premonition” (2018) exhibited at the exhibition “Ascending From the Liquid Horizon”, curated by Kati Ilves, Le Lieu Unique, Nantes, France. Kati Ilves: "She (Laura Põld) used archaic materials, such as clay, reeds and wool, in a pottery-based installation. Her site-specific work takes architecture into consideration: the former LU biscuit factory building is rich in architectural layers and Põld works from its red brick wall. Blending this specific aesthetic with ancient warrior masks and warfare-related objects, Põld’s created zone blends the dichotomies of the archaic and contemporary, domestic and public, and war and peace. Her works could serve as a monument of the in-between, pregnant with speculations, references and prophecies.”

Laura Põld studied ceramics at the Estonian Academy of Arts (BA, 2007) and painting at Tartu University (MA, 2010). Põld has participated in solo-, duo- and group exhibitions in Estonia, Austria, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Hungary and France. She has been to residencies in Maebashi Works in Gumna, Japan (2016), Ateliers Höherweg e. V.-s in Düsseldorf, Germany (2017), in CC. art space in Isfahan, Iran (2017), in Atelierhaus Salzamt in Linz, Austria (2012, 2018) and in ISCP, New York (2019). Laura Põld has been awarded with a number of prizes and scholarships like the Eduard Wiiralt scholarship (2008), Ado Vabbe scholarship (2013), annual prize of The Cultural Endowment of Estonia (2014), Köler Prize grand prix (2016) and main prize of The Cultural Endowment of Estonia (2019). She is one of the laureates for the artist’s salary 2019–2021.