From April 19, the Riga Porcelain Museum will give you the opportunity to immerse yourself in the spring-coloured and delicate work of Inese Margēviča in her solo exhibition "The Secret Life of the Cyclamen." The exhibition will be on display in the museum's exhibition hall, and another group of works will be displayed in the shop windows on the ground floor.

Have you ever wondered if plants have a personal life? Inese Margēviča has, and she is convinced it is very interesting. Following this train of thought, the exhibition "The Secret Life of the Cyclamen" has been created over several years. On exquisite hand-cast porcelain plates, vases of organic shapes and refined figures, cyclamen flowers grow, flourish and breathe quietly, and among them, like a being apparently hiding, a woman glides.

The artist says: "In the exhibition I deal with the topic of sensitive points of contact between people and plants, about interaction, perception, energy. The wild cyclamen is an unusual plant. I saw them for the first time, in the open air, in France, in an overgrown garden. I almost stepped on the dark brown tubers, which are as hard as wood. What do cyclamen do in protective darkness? Do they feel the gentle hands of the gardener massaging the soil around them, or do they just sleep, with the inexpressive, woody tuber remaining like that forever? What power makes everything change, as fragile rosettes begin to emerge from the humble tuber towards the sun, eventually turning into leaves and delicate pink flowers? The plant slowly transforms and begins to breathe differently."

Inese Margēviča started creating her first works under the difficult circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic and continued during the time when Russia invaded Ukraine. Her studio and the creative process were a refuge from the real world and uncertainty about the future. Step by step, Inese Margēviča built her Garden of Eden in porcelain, a place in which to relax, to breathe. She admires the perseverance of plants: "I have always been fascinated by plants, their vitality, the power of sprouting, which gives a tiny sapling in the sunlight tremendous strength to break through layers of soil, stones, even asphalt! The amazing perseverance of the plant, crumbling solid earth and rocks, if it is not lucky enough to get to fertile land. Adaptability and patience in waiting when it isn’t the best time to grow. Plants are smart and hardy. Even when neglected, they continue to live. People have similar characteristics. People as plants and plants as humans."

The exhibition "The Secret Life of Cyclamen" shows the most recent works by the ceramicist created in the last four years – original forms of porcelain painted in a storyline. Various techniques were used to make the figures, combining casting and shaping, as well as experimenting with porcelain’s plasticity, ruffling and wrinkling it. Delicate, polychrome overglaze painting has been done by hand, inspired by the principles of laying down paint fields mastered by the porcelain painting workshop "Baltars" (1924-1928). Compared to the artist's earlier works, which are characteristically monochrome, featuring subdued hues with noble metal accents, the works of this exhibition are vivid. Pink and green tones invite you to pull aside the flower stalks and enter the secret garden of the imagination, plunge into the warm river, awaken the senses and finally – to breathe.

Inese Margēviča holds a master’s degree in art from the Latvian Academy of Arts (2001), as well as a master’s degree in art pedagogy from the University of Latvia (2004). She is a member of the Artists' Union of Latvia, the ceramics association "Logs" and the Latvian Ceramics Association (LKA). From 1988 to 1996, she executed her original works at the Riga Porcelain Factory, and subsequently worked in her own studio. She has actively participated in exhibitions and international ceramics symposia since 1990, as well as illustrating books. She works as a teacher at Oskars Kalpaks Riga Folk Arts Primary School and Pārdaugava School of Music and Art.

Inese Margēviča’s work has a very broad scope. She creates her forms both by pouring into moulds and by free-hand crafting. She paints them in unique manner, cultivated over many years to perfection. At the beginning of her creative career, she explored various techniques of porcelain painting, copying Japanese drawings and seeking inspiration from African folk art. Ultimately, she created her own inimitable style. The artist's work is permeated with natural, plant and figurative motifs executed in an ornamental, graphically decorative or pictorially lyrical manner. The colour bloom has transformed from monochrome, muted tones and tonal combinations into a greater richness of colours, which stimulates emotions and awakens sensuality.

Inese Margēviča's solo exhibition "The Secret Life of the Cyclamen" will be on display at the Riga Porcelain Museum from April 19, 2024, to June 9, 2024.