Photo via Sculpture Milwaukee
Statue of Woolen Sock - Sculpture MKE
Flo Kasearu's 'Statue of Woolen Sock' on Vel R. Phillips' Plaza in Milwaukee (2026).
Estonian artist Flo Kasearu’s 2025 sculpture, Statue of Woolen Sock (Keep Warm), brings ideas of surveillance, privacy and sustainability to Downtown Milwaukee as a part of Sculpture Milwaukee’s “Power of the Margins” exhibition. The large copper form stands tall on Phillips Avenue outside of the Baird Center, its metal surface bright and reflective.
As a lifelong artist, Kasearu is focused on the message she wants to convey as she experiments with a variety of tools, “I think the concept is the main thing, and then the medium is secondary. So I always then choose in which medium this concept would be the best.”
Her exhibition “BANANA - Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone” in Tallinn, Estonia’s Kai Art Center was the sculpture’s first home. This acronym is the concept that guides the collection of paintings, photographs, and installations. First interested in the phrase NIMBY (Not In My Backyard), Kasearu landed on BANANA, which she called, “total NIMBY-ism. It's very radical ‘not in my backyard.’” The exhibition commented on land use and the relationship between public and private spaces resulting from increased urban development.
Looming Figure
Photo via Sculpture Milwaukee
Statue of Woolen Sock - Flo Kasearu
Flo Kasearu's 'Statue of Woolen Sock' viewed from the front on Vel R. Phillips Plaza in Milwaukee (2026)
Kasearu was inspired when her neighbors built a large house overlooking her own, going so far as to remove and replace their shared fence. The fence was decorated and became part of the exhibition. The sculpture, Statue of Woolen Sock (Keep Warm), was placed beside the fence, a looming figure peering into Kasaeru’s metaphorical backyard.
“It is kind of like this big brother or some unknown neighbor or some company who maybe is interested in my backyard and wants to build something close there,” Kasaeru said.
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A driving force of the development of rural lands in Estonia is the implementation of wind turbines as the country transitions to more sustainable energy sources. It is a cause of tension as some people don’t want the turbines on or near their land which aligns with BANANA and NIMBY. Citizens are split between supporting clean energy and maintaining privacy and control of their property. Statue of Woolen Sock (Keep Warm) is built from copper, an important material for energy conduction in wind turbines. Its shape references a similar transitory period in nearby Lithuania's energy infrastructure in which people were left with very little access to power and instructed to wear woolen socks indoors to stay warm.
Open to Interpretation
The sculpture was installed on June 25 through Sculpture Milwaukee’s exhibition “Power of the Margins,” along with other public art pieces throughout the city. Though not the original inspiration, the broader themes of Kasearu’s work can be applied to the city of Milwaukee. The integration of Flock surveillance cameras began in 2022 and has grown exponentially since then, now including more than 1,500 cameras throughout the city. The Milwaukee Police Department, who has access to them, has faced numerous accusations of Flock camera misuse since their installation and as recently as this July. The cameras have received lots of backlash from Milwaukee residents and nationally as privacy becomes harder to protect. Additionally, rural areas around Milwaukee are experiencing urbanization like Estonia’s countryside.
Kasearu said that the sculpture’s abstract shape makes it very “open to different interpretations,” especially in its new environment and hopes that the city of Milwaukee finds its own meaning within it.
