Nils Hint is an Estonian artist/blacksmith who focuses on the kinetic relationship between static material and the human experience. He transforms basic tools and everyday utensils of iron and steel into powerful brooches, necklaces, and bracelets. Although deceptively lightweight and eminently wearable, each piece recalls the original object from which it was forged, along with the intense process whereby red-hot ferrous metals become soft, malleable, and ductile.

Hint received both a BA and MA in blacksmithing from the Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn, where he is currently an Associate Professor of Jewelry and Blacksmithing. In 2013 he was artist in residence at Art St. Urban in Switzerland. He has shown internationally, including exhibitions at the Stedeljik Museum ‘s-hertogenbosch, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Project Space Spare Room, Melbourne, Australia; Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Oslo, Norway; Shenkar College Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel; Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, Tallin, Estonia; and Ruthin Craft Center, Ruthin, Wales. In 2015 he was featured in Schmuck at the Internationalen Handwerksmesse in Munich, Germany. Hint has received several awards and accolades, including the Kristjan Raua Nimeline Kunstipreemia, in 2016, and 2014 Grant for Creative Work from Cultural Endowment of Estonia.  He is represented in the collections of the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, Tallinn; Art St. Urban Art Center, St. Urban, Switzerland; Gallery of Art, Legnica, Poland; and Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn.

Comb Tools. 2019, forged, hammered and electroplated tools

Dirty Dishes, brooches, 2019, found cutlery knives, cobalt nickel steel