Mihkel Maripuu is not one to shy away from a challenge. Though his background is in traditional painting, at the opening of his new exhibition "Exobiota," Maripuu tells me he has "run away from the practice several times."

"I've always been interested in new technologies that shape perceptions and how they change the visual language we consume," he says. "Consciously or unconsciously."

And so, in an era when visual culture is increasingly mediated by screens and digital imagery, Maripuu has often found himself attracted to different mediums including video, performance and sound art. But no matter what his chosen mode of artistic expression, the unique qualities of this digital era and its influence on contemporary visual language have remained at the heart of Maripuu's work.

Maripuu describes his underlying artistic purpose as "to challenge the ever-evolving technical powerhouses" — including artificial intelligence (AI). Yet, while some see AI as an existential threat to traditional ways of making art, Maripuu chooses to embrace it.

In his view, the dawn of AI is akin to the emergence of photography as an artistic medium during the last century. At that time, it was also feared that this new technology would signal an end to the "really valuable position of the artist," Maripuu says, pointing to Pablo Picasso as a prime example.

Having put so much work into mastering the art of painting, Picasso "had a kind of meltdown," when photography appeared on the scene, Maripuu explains. The great Spanish painter was left "super depressed" and wondering "now what?"

But as time passed, Picasso developed a new style and came to realize that photography was not simply a different tool, which in the hands of artists could be used to foster new ways of creative expression.

"I think [AI] will [also] add so many more capabilities to the mediums that already exist," Maripuu says, and that when it comes to artistic progress more generally, the current situation has to be seen as "win-win."

The evolution of technology always challenges traditional approaches to making art, Maripuu says. "But it will never rewrite something that already exists — nobody wants to destroy anyone."

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AI is certainly a hot topic in Estonia right now. Days before Maripuu's exhibition opened, President Alar Karis announced the launch of "TI-Hüpe" ("AI Leap") — a pathbreaking new educational program, that will fully embrace AI technology in the country's high schools.

Lilian Hiob-Küttis, the curator of "Exobiota," believes that for art too, the leap forward with AI has to be seen as a step in the right direction.

"The impact of AI on traditional art is being discussed a lot nowadays," Hiob-Küttis tells me. "But I'm 100 percent certain it doesn't affect the art field in a negative way. As Alar Karis said in his speech, [AI is] a tool, and for a creative researcher, for an engineer or whoever, it can be something very valuable,"

Hiob-Küttis points to the way Maripuu leans into "digitality and all these artificial elements," through his work, even when using classical painting techniques.

"He's showing us what it could be," Hiob-Küttis says. "[AI] doesn't have to only be about these dystopian narratives, which we are used to seeing in sci-fi movies. It can be something more symbiotic, something more beautiful. As people of today, we just have to embrace it."

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Embracing cutting edge technology while also staying deeply connected to your roots seems quite typically Estonian. And while Maripuu's work in "Exobiota" certainly contains no overtly national symbology, Hiob- Küttis suggests that it may be this duality that hints at its creator's origins.

The "underlying idea of digitality" along with a lack of fear when facing "new ways of being and new ways of working," is both characteristic of Maripuu's paintings and may also be something of an Estonian national trait.

"Mihkel takes the best elements from the digital and the physical and tries to bring them all together," says Hiob-Küttis.

"He does use AI tools and programs like Photoshop 3D, but the works themselves are made using classical painting techniques. I think that's very Estonian too — to take the best parts of the digital and the new world order and just make the best out of it."

Maripuu himself sees his own connections to the broader canon of Estonian art in even more philosophical terms. "It's a good question," Maripuu says, when I ask him about it.

"You know, probably the most important Estonian in the world is Arvo Pärt — the composer. I've thought a lot about where these compositions and this sensitivity of the soul that he has, come from," Maripuu tells me.

"And, if you look out over the Baltic coast that surrounds the country, and, well, we do have summer months here, but," he laughs, "most of the year we have these really dark months, when you can only choose between different shades of grey."

"So, if you go to the beach and look towards the sea and the horizon, you'll see these waves that are coming forward toward you quite monotonously. But it's quite meditative."

It's quite hard to find this type of neutral place that activates your mind in that particular way, Maripuu says, unless, like all Estonian artists, "you're in the middle of it."

"These mellow states are always really inspiring because you have to dig deep into yourself. It's more introspective than extrospective — it comes more from within."

"Of course, it's not as vibrant as somewhere like Mexico," he says. "In fact, it's the total opposite. But all those little sparkles of inspiration that you welcome [from there] will light up the pathways towards whatever you are doing."

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Having strayed off the beaten path of traditional  painting so many times before in pursuit of new artistic forms, now, with "Exobiota" Mihkel Maripuu appears to have come full circle.

After all, the works on display at Tartu's Kogo Gallery were all created the same way "the old masters made their paintings a century ago." he says.

"If you're a painter, you're always worried that painting will, sooner or later, die out," Maripuu tells me. "But like the spirals and the geometry in our lives, we often return to the practice we have left unfinished."

Even with a curator like Hiob-Küttis, who Maripuu describes as a "guiding light" in the creative process, ultimately "you always have to find the way by yourself."

"Painting is, in general, super personal — it's always a solo thing. Of course, the outcome is really important, but you know, it's always really intense and a struggle to make it happen. I always try to put a pin on these moments when I'm painting, when the works are half done —  just to try and remember those blissful moments when it's growing and coming together.

"And maybe," he smiles, "I'm learning to love the process even more than the outcome."

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Mihkel Maripuu's exhibition "Exobiota" opened at Tartu's Kogo Gallery on February 28. The exhibition will remain on display until April 19.

Moe information is available here and here.

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