SMNT - Portfolio 2014-2026

Sven Mantsik - EKA BFA graduate 2022. Currently studying contemporary art at EKA, MA degree.

[svenmantsik]

Kontakt:

Instagram: @ seitsmes_mnt

Twitter: @ seitsmes_mnt

[email protected] / [email protected]

Artist portfolio (2024) in English

Artist portfolio (2022) in Estonian

My artwork draws heavily from personal life experiences with trauma, poverty, and mental illnesses. Striving to maintain optimism and humor for mental well-being, I find inspiration in childhood book authors and illustrators like Edgar Valter and Tove Jansson. My preferred techniques, childishly, include comics and animation. I see myself as living the life of a tragicomic character; adversity shapes the narrative and brings joy to someone. Absurd and depressing incidents, experiences, and phenomena often look good on paper. Transforming experiences into artwork, I become both the creator and the first reader. My first job was as a cashier at Comarket, a retail chain that no longer exists. The cat from the logo serves as a simple self portrait, as if that job shaped me into that identity permanently, given that my only paid job is still in retail. The idea of working a cash register for the rest of my life fills me with existential dread and drains all hope for a bright future. Anyway, I value traditional tools on paper, from pencil to pen, as well as various printmaking techniques from aquatint to screen printing. When it comes to drawing, I prefer the very permanent, unerasable line of a ballpoint pen, because pencil annoys me with its habit of getting blurry over time and infecting other drawings. The unique line of a ballpoint pen inspired my Bachelor's degree thesis, where I filled a roll-on deodorant with ink and used it as a large pen.

Sven Mantsik

Education:

2023 – 2025: Estonian Academy of Arts, Master of Contemporary Art 2019 – 2022: Estonian Academy of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts 2014 – 2017: Pelgulinna Gymnasium (high school) 2004 – 2014: Tallinna Nõmme Basic School (primary and secondary school)

Group exhibitions:

2023 Hindamismaraton. EKA galerii 2022 TASE’22. Eesti Kunstiakadeemia 2021 Asjad ja mitteasjad. Haapsalu Linnagalerii 2021 Booked. MUU Helsinki Contemporary Art Centre 2021 Kiirmenetlus. EKA graafika osakonna koomiksinäitus, EKA väligalerii, Tallinn 2020 Hindamismaraton. EKA galerii, Tallinn 2020 Mütoloogiliste olendite anatoomia. Endla teatri küünigalerii, Pärnu 2017 Pelgulinna Gümnaasiumi kunstisuuna lõputööde näitus, Kullo Lastegalerii, Tallinn

[svenmantsik]

TIMELINE

Exhibition at the library of the Estonian Academy of Arts

07.11.2025 – 19.12.2025

Artist: Sven-Aleksander Mantsik (MAKK24) Curator: Camille Laurelli

My first solo exhibition Timeline consists of autobiographical sketches on receipts, pinned to cork plates. Most of them were made during the past 7 years while I was working as a cashier, drawn for escapism while depicting real events. Besides the exhibition is a selection of books I recommend from the EKA library. 

The word “timeline” has various definitions – an order in which events happened / a social media feed / a plan / a theoretical branch of a multiverse / or in animation or video editing software, the long horizontal window which holds all the video clips or frames of animation and other media elements, visualizing where everything is placed in time. 

The works here follow a kind of emotional chronology: arranged not by when the drawings were made, but by the memories they represent, from childhood memories to sketches made very recently about recent events. 

I picked pin colors by whether the memory or sketch stresses me out or not:

Red – sadness and anger

Yellow – slightly less painful emotions

Blue or green – memories and sketches that make me smile

White – extra insignificant pins for holding up the sketch better

I make comic sketches because there are things that can only be written, not said. There is no way to make sense of my life other than through drawing and writing.

Exhibition description in Estonian:

TIMELINE

Näitus Eesti Kunstiakadeemia raamatukogus

07.11.2025 – 19.12.2025

Kunstnik: Sven-Aleksander Mantsik (MAKK24) Kuraator: Camille Laurelli

Mu esimene isikunäitus Timeline ehk Ajatelg koosneb autobiograafilistest visanditest kviitungitel, mis on knopkadega kinnitatud korkplaatidele. Enamik neist on tehtud viimase 7 aasta jooksul, kui töötasin kassapidajana, joonistatud eskapismi eesmärgil, kujutades samal ajal reaalseid sündmusi. Lisaks on näituse kõrval riiulis raamatuid mida soovitan, EKA raamatukogust.

Sõnal “ajatelg” on mitu tähendust – sündmuste toimumise järjekord / sotsiaalmeedia postitused / plaanid / multiversumi teoreetiline haru / animatsiooni- ning videotöötlustarkvaras pikk horisontaalne aken, mis sisaldab kõiki animatsiooni videoklippe või kaadreid ja muid meediaelemente, visualiseerides, kuhu kõik ajas paigutatakse.

Siinsed teosed järgivad omamoodi emotsionaalset kronoloogiat: need ei ole paigutatud joonistuste tegemise aja, vaid mälestuste järgi mida nad esindavad, alates lapsepõlvemälestustest kuni hiljutiste sündmuste kohta tehtud visanditeni.

Valisin knopkade värvid selle järgi, kas mälestus või visand tekitab minus stressi või mitte:

Punane – kurbus ja viha

Kollane – veidi vähem valusad emotsioonid

Sinine või roheline – mälestused ja visandid mis rõõmu teevad

Valge – lisatud knopkad kviitungite paremaks hoidmiseks

Joonistan koomikseid, sest on asju, mida saab ainult kirja panna, mitte öelda. Oskan oma elu läbi mõelda vaid visandite joonistamise kaudu.

[svenmantsik]

my part of the Thor animation. made on exchange studies in Volda University College, spring 2025. more info:

Animation report - Thor's vision - Volda 2025 - Sven Mantsik

Thor’s vision - animation Animation report Sven-Aleksander Mantsik Course: Animation Theory 4 - Interdisciplinary Course coordinator: M. Jav

[svenmantsik]

Archive / Arhiiv

Sketches on receipts, pins, 16 corkboards in various dimensions

May 2024

Over six years of working part-time as a grocery store cashier, I made pen sketches on discarded receipts during brief moments of downtime, accumulating a significant collection. Drawing allowed me to escape the monotony of cashiering, and the sketches serve as an all-encompassing visual diary capturing daily life, thoughts, and work events. But mostly thoughts – a few corkboards are dedicated entirely to character creation, worldbuilding and fan art. Being alone with my thoughts also lead to them wandering to personal and emotional places – one corkboard is entirely dedicated to complaining about life, trauma and mental health and another to complaining about the (dis)organization in my previous job at a larger Rimi hypermarket. The printed receipt side also documents the goods purchased and their current prices, adding historical context to the mundane as prices change. By using recycled corkboards from friends to display these sketches, I emphasize sustainability. This work explores themes of routine, personal expression, and the intersection of everyday life with art.

[svenmantsik]

CATNET3000 - TalTech game jam game

A short platformer game (1026×800 px)

2024

Incomplete little platformer game about letting go of the old internet, made in the Godot engine, as a group effort. You play as a cursor in the form of a cat and platform through a tactile 2000s website before it collapses as it gradually goes offline.

(the animations / sprites I made for the game: player character, spinning CD collectible)

CatNet3000 is playable and downloadable on itch.io.

We named our group Team Hyppekass as a sort of reference to Tiigrihüpe, which was the initiative that brought computers and internet access to Estonian schools.

Sven Mantsik (@ seitsmes_mnt, me): I did the sprite art, sprite animation, some lore writing, and itch.io page design.

Caroline Pajusaar (@ artsycreaturez) - background art, level design.

Karu Kaljuste (@ libakary) - programming, game design.

Anni Hõ (@ 4nnih6) - audio, game design, writing.

Made in 47 hours during the TalTech GameCamp game jam of March 2024, theme: "Into the Unknown." It got 6th place!! (Out of 28 games.)

This game is still very incomplete with a few things missing and a lot of things not working. It's not really completable.

Here's an overview of some animations, assets and backgrounds that didn't make it into the game. There's also development and planning sketches.

Development sketches / plans I wrote:

Some more of the assets (and one background) I made:

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our exhibition "Transgressive Joy" in Tartu is open!! come check it out Wednesday to Sunday, 12pm to 6pm! it's in the balcony gallery in Aparaaditehas, through the Klubi Gutenberg door, above Aparaat restaurant.

of tumblr artists, we got @nazardaydreamer, @blu3mila, @kurt-accursedd, and me. :) @ comik.books is only on instagram and anonymous artist will contribute their artwork for Tartu 2024 pride week. due to transport difficulties. otherwise it's all set and installed yaayyy

[svenmantsik]

some sketchbook pages (2024)

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comic drafts / plans (unfinished) 2024

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Overview of my artwork from the contemporary art MA assessment exhibition, 15.12.2023 at EKA gallery - Finite space, Mindfulness jar, Pressure, and Escapement Complex playable on the laptop.

And some experiments with enlarging receipt sketches plus my three sketchbooks that I filled this year, free to browse.

Photos 1 and 5 taken by Mia Tohver.

[svenmantsik]

Finite Space

Cork board (90×60 cm), sketches, mixed media. 2023

This is a mind map entirely about one of my original characters. Everything on it is connected to the character Eero, who was cursed to look spiky like a cactus. It’s vaguely divided into three sections: character design, story and setting. I write characters and stories I’ve always wanted to see in comics or graphic novels, but never have, at least not in an Estonian context – something slightly supernatural, with queer overtones, which takes place in a down-to-Earth setting, like a panel building area in Tallinn. This usually stays inside my head. It’s out of my comfort zone to show all the concept art I make for a hypothetical comic I know I’ll never actually get around to. The whole idea infinitely grows in my mind and taking it out and putting it on paper seems like an impossible task.

Photos 1, 3, 4, 6 taken by Mia Tohver.

[svenmantsik]

Escapement Complex

Interactive digital experiment with the GameMaker engine (1280×720px) 2023

A group project, made in two days at Tallinn University during the GameMaker game jam on 9-10.12.2023. Our team happened to consist of just me and my two artist friends Ellis and Anni. None of us had used the GameMaker engine before, so we barely got it done. The theme we were given was “free at last.” We wanted to ask “what about after freedom?” The game story is that you play as a lab experiment who escaped and this is your freedom – unexciting life in a panel building with some other escapees, like a new prison. I designed the player character and did the pixel art direction.

Player character: (placeholder?)

Anni: @4nnih6 They teach game making at TLÜ and did the programming for this, putting it all together. Ellis instagram: @ellis_bug He has partaken in so many game jams!! He came up with the lab part of the backstory, plus various character designs.

Here's a presentation about the game, which shows off more assets, including some things which didn't make it in. Hallmäe / Grey hill is an alternative title for the game, referencing Mustamäe and other panel building areas of Tallinn.

[svenmantsik]

new portfolio dropped :3

sorry, that's highly unprofessional. I mean I translated and updated it

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🌵 "Plant Life" comic teaser mockup (2022) 🌵

[svenmantsik]

Storyboard practice, 2022

[svenmantsik]

Pest. A comic based on storyboard practice. 2019

[svenmantsik]

Pest. Storyboard practice / mock exam, 2018

[svenmantsik]

Pressure

Relief print series (53,5×49 cm), acetone transfer. 2023

Christmas calendars (advent calendars) have plastic insides to keep shape and house the candy. I kept some over the years because of their resemblance to panel buildings I’ve lived in my whole life. I used them for relief print and acetone transfer for the text. The panel building is almost a symbol of poverty. I can’t imagine I’ll ever afford to move out. It’s apparently statistically environmentally friendly of me. The wealthy are responsible for a disproportionate amount of carbon emissions. If you or your family don't own a private jet, your climate guilt is irrational.

Photography by Mia Tohver.