Be prepared to redefine your understanding of porcelain in the upcoming group exhibition "Free Form", which will exhibit the works of internationally renowned Latvian artists, such as the duo Skuja Braden, Ilona Romule, Elīna Titāne, Valda Podkalne, Sanita Ābelīte, Jekaterina Sazonova, Tatjana Krivenkova and Andris Vēzis, the latest work of the Lithuanian Eglė Einikytė-Narkevičienė and the Estonian artist Kauri Kallas, as well as the talented artist Ojūna Batbajara. The exhibition is dedicated to porcelain spatial objects created by the authors as a single copy of works of art – rolling, building, pouring, tearing and creating. The main exposition of the Riga Porcelain Museum shows industrially produced porcelain on a daily basis, which was created to meet the everyday needs of society. In contrast, the exhibition "Free Form" shows a very different approach to porcelain as a material and what can be done with it. This exhibition is an opportunity to appreciate currently working artists, their unique vision and artistic styles. In addition, among the porcelain works, there will also be a stone mass elements; the attentive viewer will be able to to observe and compare the plasticity and aesthetic properties of these materials in this ceramic group exhibition. 

The duet "Skuja Braden" is a unique phenomenon in the Latvian art scene. The women received wide international recognition after the 59th Venice Art Biennale in 2022, where they represented Latvia. Latvian Ingūna Skuja and American Melissa D. Breiden have been working together since 1999 and have merged into the joint "Skuja Braden". They work side by side on both idea generation and sketches, creating and painting moulds, using a unique techniques and bold experiments with colours, pigments, salts and glazes. "Skuja Braden" is the only artistic team in Latvia to create critical art based on pop culture, current social and political developments, as well as personal subjective experience.

Internationally recognized ceramicist Ilona Romule works with industrial porcelain in Hungary and China, creating forms, casting porcelain and composing elements into original art objects. She then brings the works to Latvia, where she meticulously paints it over several months. Her art characterized by a sophisticated, elegant treatment of forms, an idiosyncratic system of images, in which the animalistic world and the erotic component are of great importance, as well as a graphic drawing that delicately complements the expressiveness of the form. The exhibition "Free Form" will feature unpainted objects to accentuate the exacting quality of the sculptural form.

Elina Titāne "grows" her sculptures; the process of creating them is meditative, the interaction of material and fingers determining the next movement and the direction in which the object will develop. "It's a path of discovery – I'm indulging in transformation," says the artist. "My priority is the process of creating a artwork, not the result. I'm fascinated by the colour of the material itself, so I mostly don't use other colours or pigments." Sanita Ābelīte also has a meditative indulgence, although her result is significantly different. "By creating form, composition, thoughts, and feelings, I let myself flow freely; I would call it an intuitive approach, I have partial control over what is happening, the creative process is unpredictable and magical. Paints and pigments play a big role in my work process - they bring joy!" she says.

The working method of Valdas Podkalne is a "built surprise" . "In my workshop, I create a "library" from debris of various plaster shapes and in the process of work I choose the necessary debris for myself. By connecting them to each other, I create my own imaginary form. When I pour porcelain mass into it, the most interesting thing is the finale, when I peel out a self-made object from a plaster shell, which is a new miracle every time – and it is the surprise that is most enticing in the process. Unglazed white porcelain – this is important to me in these works. The form with the lightsabre game is self-sufficient. Of course, there have been different periods – from painting with overglaze paints, subglacial salts, cobalt, to porcelain objects painted with acrylic and soaked in wax. It all depends on the concept of work. The artist's workshop is like an alchemist's laboratory where experiments are conducted..." she says.

Jekaterina Sazonova and Tatjana Krivenkova have discovered the ideal formula in their cooperation. Jekaterina creates moulds and Tatjana paints them. Jekaterina's touch is sensitive, it brings out the shape hidden in the material, as if by stroking turning the amorphous substance into a new image. Tatjana's forte, on the other hand, is not decorative, embellishing, rather, it is pictorial, as if it talks to the unique form and its sensual nuances, forming a unique and ideal unison. "They supposedly lacked something," says Jekaterina, judging her forms before they fell into the hands of Tatyana Krivenkova, "but then – yes – full-bodiedness!"

Andris Vēzis is a virtuoso experimenter with surface finishing effects. Objects can be developed in the direction of functionalism and turn into vases, cups, dishes, or they can move toward abstraction, where the knowledge and craftsmanship of materials developed over the years creates artistically high-quality objects that are viewed by pleasure.

Ojūna Batbajara is at the beginning of her creative career, but has already established herself brilliantly with balanced, minimalist and idiosyncratic objects and their spatial installations.

Meanwhile, the works of Kauri Kallas and Eglė Einikytė-Narkevičienė will be exhibited for the first time at the Riga Porcelain Museum. The unique sculptures of Eglė Einikytė-Narkevičienė have been on display at the Ceramics Biennale in Riga and Daugavpils. Kauri Kallas, on the other hand, is characterized by an expression based on the aesthetics of primitive peoples and comics, in which form and painting merge into a single, imaginative whole, and his approach to the language of forms and unique imagery will be an interesting discovery for the ceramics-loving Latvian audience.

While the artists of the exhibition are all outstanding ceramicists, they each take different paths both in the process of creation and in the final result. However, one aspect unites them all – form. The exhibition "Free form" will surprise with its visual way of expression. The exhibition will break down traditional notions of porcelain and ceramic art, revealing how these materials can redefine traditional forms and serve as the basis for unfettered creativity. It will show individuality, experimentation and the limitless potential of the human spirit.

The exhibition "Free Form" is on view at the Riga Porcelain Museum from June 14 to August 11, 2024.