WARM LIGHT
Inese Margēviča (Latvia)
When things get tough, we seek support and solace. It feels refreshing to spend time imagining a sanctuary – a paradise where you feel sheltered from all harm. Where you can hide beneath a canopy of leaves and blossoms, step peacefully into a sun-warmed pool or stream and melt into its soft embrace, sink into warm and verdant light, part luscious foliage and discover strange and exquisite plants. You slowly venture deeper into the rocking rhythm of the waves, so soothing in their gentle sway. And suddenly, you feel at one with crystal water and luxuriant vegetation. Feel both invigorated and consoled.
This exhibition draws its inspiration from the extraordinary works of 16th-century French artist Bernard Palissy. His pieces are so brilliant and so vital, full to the brim with nature’s primal energy and love of life.
I am profoundly drawn to plants. They are so gentle and serene. Like us, they yearn for warmth and light. This exhibition explores the two-way interaction between us, humans, and the world of plants, diving into our reciprocity and energy exchange.
Wild cyclamen is a peculiar flower. I first encountered it in France, in an abandoned garden. I nearly stepped onto the brown, unsightly bulbs, which felt as hard as solid wood. I wondered what the plants were doing, cocooned in velvety, protective dark. I asked myself if they could feel the gardener’s caring hands when gently nestled in a bank of soil. Or maybe they were sound asleep, and the unsightly wood-like bulb was destined to remain forever dormant in its unappealing form? What is this force, I thought, that changes everything and coaxes from the humble root a tender shoot that starts unfurling, reaching up towards the sun, then grows into a delicate rosette, develops leaves, and ultimately blossoms into soft pink blooms? Slowly, the plant transforms and starts to breathe anew.
Inese Margēviča
Inese Margēviča graduated from the Art Academy of Latvia, where she earned a Master’s degree in Fine Arts in 2001, followed by a Master’s in Art Education from the University of Latvia in 2004. Her professional affiliations include memberships in the Latvian Artists Union, the “Logs” Association of Ceramics, and the Latvian Ceramics Association. From 1988 to 1996, her creativity unfolded at the Rīga Porcelain Factory. Now, Margēviča works from her private studio. Her ongoing creative record, dating back to 1990, includes dozens of exhibitions, international symposiums, and book illustration projects. Besides creative work, Margēviča is active as an educator. Today, her teaching work unfolds at the Oskars Kalpaks Rīga People’s Applied Art School and the Pārdaugava Music and Art School.
Curator Valentīns Petjko
Exhibition duration: 29.11.2024–23.02.2025
Photo: Inese Margēviča, “Shelter”, porcelain, overglaze, gold lustre, 2023, photographed by Gvido Kajons, Rīga Porcelain Museum
