{"id":2722,"date":"2018-12-13T16:24:54","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T14:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/labora.ee\/et\/?p=2722"},"modified":"2018-12-14T16:30:41","modified_gmt":"2018-12-14T14:30:41","slug":"nestor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/labora.ee\/et\/nestor\/","title":{"rendered":"Labora\u2019s Makers: Being a Chronicle of Nestor\u2019s Artistic Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/h6>\n
EA Johnson is in town, meeting with\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Labora\u2019s makers.\u00a0<\/em><\/h6>\n
You can see what else he has been up to at\u00a0flatfish.ee<\/a>.<\/em><\/h6>\n

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Enjoy his interview with Nestor Ljutjuk.<\/em><\/h6>\n
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\u201cNestor! Open the floor!\u201d \u2013\u00a0\u041d\u0435\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0440! \u041e\u0442\u043a\u0440\u043e\u0439 \u043f\u043e\u043b!<\/em>\u00a0And with these three magic words, I met Nestor. Of course, it took me a few disconcerting seconds to process what I\u2019d heard as it isn\u2019t every day that you hear the words \u201copen the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

At first,\u00a0\"\"<\/a>I thought that I had misunderstood or misheard Nestor\u2019s father Anatoli \u2013 or perhaps that my Russian-language comprehension had taken a sudden nose dive. But, lo and behold, the floor actually did open and then rolled up like giant wooden blind so that I was able to step down into the cave-like crypt under Tallinn\u2019s Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Having heard the story of his namesake Nestor the Chronicler inside Kyiv\u2019s Cave Monastery many years ago, the underground location of our first meeting seemed rather appropriate.<\/p>\n

Nestor Ljutjuk, however, is a very different kind of chronicler than that first Nestor because he uses images rather than words. And if its true what they say about just how many words a single picture is worth, then Nestor has been an incredibly prolific. When we first met back in 2002, Nestor had just been accepted to study graphic art at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Before he graduated in 2007, Nestor had already demonstrated his prolific talent and the breadth of his interests. He designed the first of several album covers for his various musician-friends. He illustrated a children\u2019s book called\u00a0Minu Jonn<\/em>. And he painted icons for his church. Yes, Nestor graduated a year later than scheduled \u2013 but the reason for that was that he spent a year in Paris on an Erasmus Scholarship at the prestigious\u00a0L\u2019<\/em>\u00c9cole\u00a0<\/em>Sup\u00e9rieure<\/em>\u00a0Estienne<\/em>\u00a0where he studied illustration, typography, and fine arts.<\/p>\n

Nestor\u2019s graduation coincided with his breakout appearance as the illustrator and designer of the original\u00a0Poetics of Endangered Species: Estonia\u00a0<\/em>(2007). Nestor\u2019s impressive, detailed drawings of Estonia\u2019s rarest plants, animals, birds, and fish earned him positive reviews and a stand-alone exhibition at the Estonian Natural History Museum. Not content to rest on his laurels, Nestor went back to his\u00a0alma mater<\/em>\u00a0to complete his Master\u2019s in Graphic Art. That same year, Nestor worked as the designer and illustrator of the equally well received\u00a0Poetics of Endangered Species: Ukraine<\/em>(2008). Nestor\u2019s artistic journey continued ever forwards as he mastered calligraphy and expanded his design portfolio to include not just books such as the\u00a0Ark of Unique Cultures: The Hutsuls<\/em>\u00a0(2014) but also websites and certificates.\u00a0 And Nestor\u2019s art could now be seen at numerous group exhibitions in Tallinn and Tartu (from 2008 onwards) as well as at his first personal exhibitions in Tallinn and Paris (from 2009 onwards).<\/p>\n

As far too many artists know, art alone seldom pays the bills no matter how talented you might be. And in a small world like Estonia, this is even more true. Fortunately, Nestor has found work in the field that he loves. In 2008, he started teaching master classes in printing, graphic art, calligraphy, and papermaking across Estonia \u2013 and he continues this process of \u201cpaying forward\u201d by sharing his love for art with others. Impressed by his ability as a teacher, the Estonian Academy of Arts invited him back in 2009 to serve as a drawing instructor for their new students \u2013 and the invitations keep coming.<\/p>\n

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From 2009-2013, Nestor managed the day-to-day operations of the Ukrainian Cultural Center\u2019s School of Calligraphy. And in 2010, he took charge of the Tallinn Paper Mill & Press which is now known as Labora. Nestor is not just Labora\u2019s founder and managing director but also its resident illustrator and designer \u2013 plus he\u2019s responsible for Labora\u2019s artistic vision and direction.<\/p>\n

You can see Labora\u2019s impressive range of paper products both online and at its small shop in Tallinn on Vene 18. At either store, you can pick up a copy of Nestor\u2019s most impressive accomplishment to date: his reimagined and redesigned\u00a0Poetics of Endangered Species: Estonia<\/em>\u00a0(2018) with spectacular new illustrations.\u00a0 Not only will this book pull the floor out from under you, its unique blend of poetry, calligraphy, and art will set your imagination free.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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What are your plans for putting your new illustrations from the reimagined\u00a0<\/em>Poetics of Endangered Species\u00a0on display? Do you have any exhibits planned? And is it possible to get copies of the individual drawings like your wonderful image of the newt which some Hooandja supporters received?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

While we recommend that everyone get the book, we\u2019ve also printed six stand-alone illustrations from the\u00a0Poetics\u00a0<\/em>in a larger A3 format suitable for framing. We plan to print an additional six images soon. And then we\u2019re also preparing an entire series of new greeting cards based on drawings from the book \u2013 above and beyond the exclusive Black Stork card which Hooandja supporters received. All of these off-prints can be seen and purchased at our Labora Shop at 18 Vene Street and at our online store \u2013 or you can come directly to our workshops on 22 Laboratooriumi to get them.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also been fortunate in that on Wednesday 12 December, Tallinn\u2019s House of Writers has agreed to help us present the\u00a0Poetics of Endangered Species<\/em>\u00a0once again \u2013 an honor accorded to major publications. And I\u2019ve also been talking to the National Library of Estonia about hosting an exhibit focused on the book and its illustrations.<\/p>\n

Your impressive work on the\u00a0<\/em>Poetics of Endangered Species\u00a0reveals an affinity for Estonia\u2019s nature. How do you manage to keep connected with the natural world around you? And what did it mean for you to get a chance to redo your drawings of Estonia\u2019s vanishing species?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It seems to me that most people who live in Estonia are connected in some way to nature. Estonia\u2019s forests and sea side \u2013 plus its fens \u2013 are all places where people spend their holidays. While there is a certain kind of attraction to a busy city life, I spend every free moment that I can in the countryside recharging my batteries.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Of course, the place where I work every day \u2013 Labora \u2013 also happens to be a kind of a \u201csecret garden\u201d which has been visited by at least 28 different species of birds at our latest count. It is also home to a cat and a dog. You can find goldfish in our pond as well as stick bugs hiding amongst the plants. This is the first place in my life where I saw an owl. And it was here that I witnessed a falcon fighting a pigeon. My work environment is very important to me \u2013 and if I can make natural surroundings a part of that, then I\u2019m truly happy.<\/p>\n

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A lot of changes have taken place \u2013 both within me and around me \u2013 since I drew those first drawings for the original\u00a0Poetics of Endangered Species<\/em>\u00a0ten years ago. Every illustration for the\u00a0Poetics<\/em>\u00a0is something special. Even though Google allows you to explore a vast and wide-array of images from around the world, the real plants and real animals featured in our book still remain a bit of a mystery. Lots of my friends \u2013 as well as their friends \u2013 spend a fair amount of their time out in the wilderness. And while we know that there must be flying squirrels and elusive mink somewhere out there, I don\u2019t know of anyone who has seen them in the wild. And, sadly, some animals have already vanished from our country forever.<\/p>\n

Drawing animals that are in the process of disappearing provides me with a deep connection to the problems facing the natural world \u2013 as well as to other vital issues that we all face. It\u2019s been a profoundly fascinating process.<\/p>\n

As Labora\u2019s managing director, what is your vision for Labora\u2019s future? What new directions do you see the Labora collective exploring in the years to come?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m lucky to be surrounded by such a fantastic team. Sometimes I even find it hard to believe that such wonderful and capable people have gathered here at Labora. This year, we\u2019ve had several great people join our collective. We have new individuals making paper, running our workshops, helping us with our calligraphy, and managing our shop. Sometimes I like to think of Labora as a ship \u2013 and every piece of paper, every work of calligraphy, every print, every workshop, everything that our shop sells or that our organization does becomes a kind of sail to help move us forward. Right now, it seems that every sailor on our ship is exactly the right person to keep our sails filled with wind so that our ship can sail onwards.<\/p>\n

Over the coming years, we hope to focus on designing new paper products and print editions. In terms of papermaking, we want to take a new tack and focus on making paper for calligraphy. And this year we are developing a series of new workshops especially designed for young people. Fortunately, we can make use of our new facility \u2013 the Smithy \u2013 down the street at 25 Laboratooriumi. And, of course, we\u2019re always open to new projects. In short, we think that we\u2019ll have some new surprises up our sleeves for those who\u2019ve been following what it is that we do.<\/p>\n

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Not only are you a multi-faceted artist who runs a small business, but you\u2019re also a husband and a father of three children. Tell us a little about them \u2013 and about how you manage to balance all the different and equally important demands on your time.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been blessed with a wonderful wife and three great kids. Each one of us is very different and yet we\u2019re all just a part of one family. Sometimes it seems that we\u2019re different for a reason \u2013 to help each other polish our individual rough edges. Everyone in our family has something to learn from each other. This makes our family life both very exciting and quite complicated at the same time.<\/p>\n

Mara and I believe in early education. Although it sometimes seems that children will remain small for such a long time, this stage will pass surprisingly quickly. And so, I understand that every moment that I can spend with my children is more precious than gold. Every piece of new knowledge \u2013 as well as every new experience \u2013 that I can pass on to my children early on in their life will bear fruit one-hundred-fold in the future. Every day, I ask myself the question: have I done everything in my power to do right by them? And then thousands of different thoughts of what we could do, what stories we could read, where else we could go, and what else we might explore keep running through my head.\u00a0Personally, I think that this is the hardest phase in the human life cycle \u2013 although it\u2019s also the one from which you can learn the most. In the nine years since the birth of my first child, I\u2019ve come to understand a lot of things about myself. As a result, I would say that this period marks the beginning of my real life. Children can sometimes understand things better than their parents \u2013 other times we must be patient to try and understand their feelings. We must be aware of our individual strengths and weaknesses. This understanding allows you to make the journey from selfishness to humility. You must learn to reconcile your needs and your will with that of the others around you.<\/p>\n

And so, I wouldn\u2019t say that it\u2019s been easy to find the right balance between work and home. I often feel like a fireman running between my family and work, putting out fires. And then I also have to be careful not to burn out myself. I\u2019m fortunate that my wife supports my work \u2013 especially as I spent a large part of our family\u2019s summer vacation this year working on the illustrations for the new\u00a0Poetics<\/em>. And I\u2019m also grateful to my colleagues who help pick up the slack at work when I need to stay home whenever one of my kids gets sick. And yet, all in all, I find that all of these different demands can help make you even stronger \u2013 especially when I listen to my elders who have often described this prolonged period of their lives as the most productive one of all.<\/p>\n

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Through your father Anatoli, you\u2019ve been a part of Tallinn\u2019s Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and its community for your entire life. You\u2019ve been connected to this place \u2013 and to what would eventually evolve into the Ukrainian Cultural Center \u2013 almost since you were born. What has this place meant to you? How has it helped you become who you are \u2013 both as an artist and as a person?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Now this is something on which you could write an entire book. If you spend 28 years of your life building a church as well as the supporting physical and intellectual structure around it, it is bound to make a strong impression. The construction of our church represented a commitment to certain values. While our transitory motives may have been to achieve a kind of personal permanence, the values of the church itself are just as permanent as the walls of this 13th Century building. By constructing the church, I learned about persistence and about the importance of unchanging values.<\/p>\n

And yet, it is never possible to stand still. You must either continue to develop or start to slip. There are so many things that need to be done. And the world around you is always changing so quickly. My connection to the Center has given me an idea of what I can change and what I can\u2019t. While the fundamental principles of life should never vary, you must continue to change within this framework in order to keep yourself vibrant and dynamic. I feel that it is the combination of these basic unchanging values coupled with continuous motion \u2013 while keeping an open mind \u2013 which is critical to becoming an artist. And I learned this truth from my work at the Ukrainian Cultural Center.<\/p>\n

Looking back on your artistic journey so far, what advice would you have wanted to give your younger self \u2013 that version of you about to step through the doors of the Estonian Academy of Arts on that very first day? And would it be the same advice that you would want share with other potential young artists out there thinking about going to art school?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Even the very idea of making recommendations to your younger self \u2013 giving advice on what you should have done differently \u2013 is a good one! Why? Because it leads you to ask those all-important questions about what you should be doing with yourself now.<\/p>\n

So, here are some of the things that I wish I would have kept in mind twenty years ago:<\/p>\n