Keili Major
Keili Major is an Estonian painter born in Estonia in 1989. She has lived and worked in Garessio, in the Tanaro Valley, since 2023, where she has her studio [1].
Training and technique
Major trained in oil painting in Australia, under master Bill Mackay. In 2016 she received the Emerging Artist Award in Queensland [1]. She paints using two techniques: the traditional one, with brushes, learned during her training, and Finger Painting, done solely with her fingers, which has become her distinctive trait since 2018 [1][2]. Having returned to Italy at the end of 2021, she settled in Garessio in 2023 [1].
The Anno Tanaro cycle
Since 1 June 2026 Major has been working on the painting cycle Anno Tanaro: in the first week of each month, the same spot on the bank of the Tanaro is photographed with the same framing, and from that photograph the artist paints a 60×80cm cotton canvas, in oil, using only her fingers. The spot depicted does not change, while the time of year does. The cycle comprises twelve canvases; as of November 2026 five paintings have been completed [2].
NY20+ Special Prize of the Arte Laguna Prize
On 6 November 2026 Keili Major received the NY20+ Special Prize of the 21st edition of the Arte Laguna Prize, an international contemporary art competition founded in Venice in 2006 on the initiative of the MoCA Cultural Association. The ceremony was held at the Arsenale Nord in Venice, where the other special-prize winners were also honoured on stage [1][2].
The prize, awarded by NY20+, an art-promotion organisation backed by Nongyuan Culture, consists of a 31-day artist residency in Chengdu, Sichuan. During the residency Major will have a room, meals and a studio, and will take part in exhibitions, meetings and seminars organised by NY20+. Major is the only Estonian artist among the finalists and winners of the 21st edition of the prize [1][2]. After the ceremony the artist wrote: «I am overjoyed and deeply grateful to have been chosen for the NY20+ Special Prize. A whole month in China feels like an incredible gift» [1].
Major will leave for China in 2027, after completing the twelve canvases of the Anno Tanaro cycle [1].
Chronology
- — Estonian painter Keili Major, resident in Garessio, receives in Venice the NY20+ Special Prize of the Arte Laguna Prize, which awards her a month-long artist residency in Chengdu, China. → Cuneo24 IdeaWebTv