Riina’s works

Installations for the Non-Human Audience

The eponymous project emerges from an ongoing international workshop series held since 2023 across Mexico, UK, Greece, and Estonia. It invites participants to shift from a human-centric gaze to an eco-centric mindset—creating sculptural installations not for exhibition halls, but for the more-than-human world.

Participants begin by reconnecting with nature: gathering fallen organic materials like branches, leaves, etc. to form the base of each piece. These are then coated with biocomposites made from local food waste such as coffee grounds, eggshells, and orange peels.

Once complete, the sculptures are placed back outdoors, where they offer shelter to insects, birds, and fungi. Designed to decompose and return to the soil, these works resist permanence, honour decay, and embrace transformation. This is design as care—part of a living cycle rather than a static endpoint.

Guardian of the Garden, is a playful garden gnome made from eggshell biocomposite. As it breaks down, it fertilises the soil with calcium. Inspired by folklore and fairy tales, these whimsical figures—including a fruit vase with a face for fallen apples—invite humour and storytelling into regenerative design.

In times of ecological crises, regenerative planet-friendly materials and solutions offer a constructive way forward.

Conceptual Fashion for a Living World

My work explores fashion as a regenerative and conceptual practice – one that transforms waste into beauty and reimagines design as a multispecies collaboration. By working with organic byproducts such as bacterial cellulose and eggshells, I create wearable sculptures that are compostable, sensory, and rooted in place.

With SCOBY-compo, I offer a natural alternative to plastic-based ‘vegan leather’. Developed from the bacterial cellulose waste of kombucha production, this material is strong, flexible, water-resistant, and pleasantly scented with essential oils. I craft accessories using techniques such as laser-cutting, embroidery, and modular assembly – each piece designed to decompose into the soil, nourishing rather than polluting.

Floras, a limited-edition collection, embeds dried local flowers into the SCOBY-compo material – preserving the memory of a time and place. These bags act as sensory artifacts to be worn, touched, and eventually returned to the earth, embracing the impermanence at the heart of regenerative design.

In Walking on Eggshells, I explore the potential of eggshell biocomposite in footwear. The fully compostable high-heeled form, textured with visible shell fragments, questions fragility, transformation, and the future of fashion made from food waste.

Cornuscopia – the Horn of Plenty

Cornuscopia – the Horn of Plenty is a tribute to Estonian forests. Highlighting deforestation, it reminds us that Estonians are a forest nation, with deep-rooted foraging traditions that continue today.

The installation is made entirely from locally sourced materials that blend with the environment, becoming part of the landscape through every stage of its life. This experiential artwork invites you to crawl inside and immerse yourself in forest-bound thoughts, while breathing in the scent of sauna whisks – a nod to Estonia’s rich sauna culture.

A visual delight for humans and a potential shelter for other creatures, this cross-species artwork symbolizes the diversity of life that coexists in the forest. It is also a collaboration with the forces of nature, which will continue to shape and evolve the piece over time.

Over 73 people from across Estonia helped bring the artwork to life—from the local community to the farthest corners of the country. Plant ropes wrapped around the horn were crafted during workshops in Narva and Orissaare, symbolically linking the nation from east to west.

A large gathering from Piila village, Kuressaare, and even abroad celebrated its opening, fostering a strong sense of community.

The first installation of the future Land Art Center was inaugurated in Piila village, Saaremaa, on August 4th, 2024, and will remain on view until Midsummer 2026.

Coordinates: 58.412810, 22.546700.