Riga Porcelain Museum
15 December 2017 – 11 February 2018
Sanita Ābelīte, Gita Ābola, Arta Baltā, Ilze Emse-Grīnberga, Gundega Hagendorfa, Ieva Kalniņa, Elīna Titāne
“Lila” is the final exhibition of a four exhibition series participating seven artists and dedicated to the flight of days and seasons. The theme of recurrence interweaves all four exhibitions reflecting on the cyclical patterns present in every human life, in the structure of the world and the movements of the universe.
The first of the exhibitions, “Fragile creatures”, dedicated to spring, took place in Riga Porcelain Museum in 2012. In 2014 the exhibition travelled to the exhibition halls of Ķekava and Ogre art schools and to the design store “Ideju Bode” in Liepāja. The summer exhibition “Blooming” took place in gallery “Apsīda”, and the dedication to autumn, exhibition “Vespertin” was opened in gallery “Istaba” and the exhibition halls of Ķekava art school in 2016.
The winter exhibition borrows its title from Hinduism: “Lila” is a concept that describes the reality as gods' interaction with the human world, a sort of play, expressing the creative nature of gods. “Lila” can be translated as the “gods' play” or the “divine play”. The creative aspect is crucial here, as the divine is embedded in the artwork in the process of its creation; on the other hand, the “play” or playfulness is expressed while looking for ideas and experimenting with different materials and techniques, this time – in ceramics. The artists create new works especially for the exhibition, interpreting the common theme each in her own way. The seven approaches reveal their differences as well as commonalities.
Sanita Ābelīte transforms ordinary vessels in lace-like series of patterns and creates figural images who inhabit her composition “White Miniature”. Similarly, Gita Ābola enjoys working with figures, establishing characteristic original arrangements. Her work “Moment” derives from the shape of a pine cone and is created from paraffin wax, like a candle figurine. It embodies the anticipation of celebration – a mix of pleasant dreaming and sharp acknowledgement of the fleeting moment. Arta Baltā works with the patterns of porcelain frames, surrounding the contents of viewer's own choice. Her work “Deceptively Shifting Side” reminds that everything we see is an ever-changing moment. Ilze Emse-Grīnberga creates conceptually saturated and visually expressive compositions, and in her work “Anatomy of Fire” combines porcelain with other materials – metal, glass and wood. Gundega Hagendorfa uses geometric patterning and surface textures to create porcelain open-work, decorated with overglaze paints and glaze. Ieva Kalniņa has made a portrait series on plates, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, depicting herself and other artists taking place in the exhibition. Elīna Titāne in her work “Lila” continues experimenting with fibre textures – something that she started five years ago – creating an interplay between the visual image and material in the porcelain surface.