Opening: 2017.2.18 15:00

Statement

It is zooming in and out. It feels like when you can’t focus your camera in the darkness. Trying to approach from different angles, not knowing how close to be or how distant.

As a basis for my photographic and video works I use autobiographical elements – memory, everyday routines and personal events. The constant measuring of the intimate distances, the exploration of the places where I belong and the questioning of my own identity are the processes that link my existence and my artistic practice. Often I am interested in what is broken or not functional, quiet tensions in the communication between people. Iuse daily events and inner conflicts as a tool to reflect on contemporary life.

Starting with tiny movements and awkward gestures I amfollowing long roads from the East to West of Europe and my family members areoften the main characters in my work. Sometimes it is my grandmother, who becomes smuggler by intending to cross Latvian/Russian border with two smallpots of flowers or it is dad, who since mid 90’ties makes frequent runs to Westto buy cars, electronics and other items to resell it in Latvia, or it is my mom, who became the truck driver after her enterprise went bankrupt severalyears ago. Often I am using vernacular photography taken by my family members exposing kitsch aesthetics of the working class, whose tastes are generally rendered insignificant by cultural elite. Through narratives of my family Iwant to show different social processes and movements of today, creating aportrait of contemporary society.