Mall Valk Explained

Mall Valk
Birth Name:Mall Sooster
Birth Date:June 2, 1935
Birth Place:Ühtri, Hiiumaa Parish, Hiiu County, Estonia
Death Place:Tallinn, Estonia
Nationality:Estonian
Alma Mater:State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR
Occupation:Ceramist
Spouse:Heinz Valk

Mall Valk (née Mall Sooster; June 2, 1935 – October 12, 1976) was an Estonian ceramist.[1]

Early life and education

Mall Valk was born in Ühtri, Estonia as the daughter of the teachers Julius Sooster (1902–1942) and Elvi Sooster (1909–1978). When she was six years old, her father was executed by the NKVD in Irkutsk.[2] In 1961, she graduated from the State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR (now the Estonian Academy of Arts).

Career

In the 1960s and 1970s, Valk created humorous and sometimes grotesque plastic works based on situations and puns in ceramic. She was one of the ceramists that executed a panel in the Central Library of the Estonian Academy of Sciences in 1964 based on a design by Lepo Mikko.[3] [4] She died of lung cancer in Tallinn in 1976.[1]

Family

Mall Valk was the cousin of the painter Ülo Sooster (1924–1970).[5] She was married to the caricaturist and politician Heinz Valk.[6]

Works

Notes and References

  1. News: In memoriam . March 3, 2024 . Sirp ja Vasar . 43 . October 22, 1976 . 15.
  2. Book: Vrager . Elmar . Hiiumaa ja Hiidlased . 1971 . Estoprint Limited . Scarborough, Ontario . 172.
  3. Raam . Villem . Mõned sõnad Lepo Mikkost, monumentaalmaalist ja uuest keraamilisest pannoost . Nõukogude Naine . July 1964.
  4. Keraamiline pannoo . Nõukogude Eesti . May 1964 . 14 . 763 . 5 . March 3, 2024.
  5. News: Mäeumbaed . V. . Hiiumaa ajaloomälestised . March 3, 2024 . Nõukogude Hiiumaa . 24 . February 24, 1972 . 3.
  6. News: Laid . Kadi . Teine suguvõsanäitus esitleb Soostereid . March 3, 2024 . Hiiu Leht . 101 . December 29, 2009 . 8.