Tiiu Kirsipuu

Tiiu Kirsipuu (born October 29, 1957) is an Estonian sculptor.

Kirsipuu's creations range from a coin measuring a few centimeters to a sculpture long. Her works employ both realistic and abstract forms, and she uses many materials to realize her ideas. Among her best-known works is the in Tartu.

Early life and education Tiiu Kirsipuu was born in Tartu. She attended Miina Härma Primary and Secondary School in Tartu from 1965 to 1975 and from 1975 to 1976. In 1983, she graduated from the Tallinn State Applied Art Institute of the ESSR (now the Estonian National Art Institute), majoring in sculpture.

Career From 1983 to 1987, she supervised a sculpture class at the Nõmme Pioneers Palace,

She has been a member of the Estonian Artists' Association since 1987 and also belongs to the .

Works

Kirsipuu's best-known work is the sculpture of on Vallikraavi tänav (Moat Street) in Tartu—that is, a statue of the "two Wildes." In this work created in 1999, the bronze figures of the writers Eduard Vilde and Oscar Wilde sit side by side on a bench. A replica of this sculpture has also been made. To mark Estonia's accession to the European Union, Estonia and the city of Tartu donated a copy of the sculpture to the city of Galway in Ireland in 2004.

She has created numerous sculptures and memorials displayed in public spaces. Examples include the Kaarnakivi memorial to the writer Juhan Jaik in Rõuge (1999), the monument to the 100th anniversary of the Estonia Theater in Tallinn (2006), the on Toomemägi in Tartu (2006), and the sculpture of a seated musician at the Vanemuine Concert Hall in Tartu (2009). She also created the sculpture (The Eternal Student Juulius, 2008) located at the Tallinn University of Technology, the (2003) located near the Arch Bridge in Tartu, the sculpture Tüdruk linnuga (Girl with a Bird) located in the University of Tartu Botanical Garden (1987; originally in front of the ), and the Monument (2015) in Elva.

Kirsipuu has designed several coins commissioned by the Bank of Estonia. These are an (1999), a silver commemorative coin for the anniversary of the University of Tartu (2001), a silver commemorative coin for the 100th anniversary of the Estonia Theater (2006), and a silver coin dedicated to the 2008 Summer Olympics (2008).

She created a bronze bust of the poet Robert Burns that stands in the Kirsipuu Garden of the Scottish Club in Tallinn's Old Town (2005). Since January 2011, there has also been a cast bronze bust of Sean Connery created by Kirsipuu, and since 2015 a memorial bust of Admiral Edwyn Alexander-Sinclair. Kirsipuu also created the granite soldier sculpture on the erected in 2020 (a copy of the original sculpture by Roman Haavamägi).

In 2019, the metal sculpture Tallinn–Chengdu was completed in Chengdu, Tallinn's sister city. Works for public spaces by Kirsipuu can also be found in Latvia, Austria, and Changchun, China. Since 2007, she has created several sculptures of well-known Estonian cultural figures such as Matti Milius, 2010: Kristjan Raud Art Award (portraits with a technologically innovative solution, Rollimäng 'Role play' sculpture exhibition) 2019: Order of the White Star, Fourth Class

Gallery