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

Early life and education

Mall Valk was born in

Ühtri Ühtri is a village in Hiiumaa Parish, Hiiu County in northwestern Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by t ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

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 The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...

. 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. She died of lung cancer in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

in 1976.

Family

Mall Valk was the cousin of the painter

Ülo Sooster Ülo Ilmar Sooster (October 17, 1924 in Ühtri, Käina Parish – October 25, 1970 in Moscow) was an Estonian nonconformist painter. Ülo Sooster was born the village of Ühtri on the Estonian island of Hiiumaa. He was the son of Johanne ...

(1924–1970). She was married to the caricaturist and politician Heinz Valk.

Works

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

References

1935 births 1976 deaths People from Hiiumaa Parish Estonian women ceramists Estonian Academy of Arts alumni Burials at Metsakalmistu Deaths from lung cancer {{Estonia-artist-stub