Mall Valk

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

Mall Valk
Born	Mall Sooster (1935-06-02)June 2, 1935 Ühtri, Hiiumaa Parish, Hiiu County, Estonia
Died	October 12, 1976(1976-10-12) (aged 41) Tallinn, Estonia
Nationality	Estonian
Alma mater	State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR
Occupation	Ceramist
Spouse	Heinz Valk

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

• 1962: Jane Eyre
• 1967: Isa silmaterad (Father's Eyes)
• 1967: Malekuningas (Chess King)
• 1970: Pärlikukk (Guinea Cock)
• 1970: Pärlikana (Guinea Hen)