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Rothko Centre: Your life as an artist. Has it changed after your move from R\u012bga to the Latvian province? In what ways?<\/strong><\/p>\n J\u0101nis Kup\u010ds: You see, we\u2019re a province on a Latvian scale, but Ventspils will likely look completely different from, let\u2019s say, London (laughs). On a serious note, it has its ups and downs. On the downside, I\u2019m somewhat forgotten here. I\u2019ve stopped mixing with the art-folk at their bohemian parties, so I\u2019m less often remembered. Naturally, I look more on the upside. Life\u2019s just so rich outside the capital. It has so much to offer in terms of themes and inspiration! There\u2019s a whole different rhythm to it, a new mode of thinking and concentration. No point regretting things. It\u2019s best to trust in yourself and believe that you can.<\/p>\n RC: Why Ventspils?<\/strong><\/p>\n JK: Ieva (spouse Ieva Rupenheite, artist and poet \u2013 ed.) has a cottage there, right at the seafront. At that point, I had no job to tie me down, and I felt I wanted a change, so we decided to move. We reckoned we couldn\u2019t abandon the house and let it go to ruin. And then I got a job in the new place to swing the deal for good.<\/p>\n RC: About your exhibition at the Rothko Centre, shall we give the viewers some spoilers? Which is the right way to see it, and where should they start?<\/strong><\/p>\n JK: Oh, I\u2019m not even sure I\u2019ve painted it the right way! (laughs). Maybe my way is actually the wrong way. I guess one should just come and have a look, no preparation. Some might need my opinion, I mean the texts. Some do need them, but I rather find they get in the way. If it were up to me, I\u2019d even skip the titles. And let the viewers have a good look, have a think and try to relate what they see to their own experience.<\/p>\n RC: And still, what\u2019s your take from behind the scenes?<\/strong><\/p>\n JK: Well, if I must, then so be it. What we have here is three episodes \u2013 Cruel Romances, Lost Villages and The Bellies of Ships.<\/p>\n RC: <\/strong>An <\/strong>unusual <\/strong>concept <\/strong>for <\/strong>the <\/strong>ship <\/strong>motif\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n JK: I made a photo collection of ships coming into port. Imagine you\u2019re in the street that runs along the waterway taken by a huge moving vessel. You just stand there and can\u2019t take your eyes off this massive moving wall, and it\u2019s right up there. This close! That\u2019s what I wanted to capture. A while ago, it would have been pretty easy \u2013 there were loads of ships coming and going, such a common sight. Now I took some pictures and then painted from photographs.<\/p>\n RC: This is not your typical ship. Seems you\u2019ve chosen to reveal the unpleasant \u201ctruth\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n JK: Yes, to be honest, they\u2019re not beautiful. When a boat is empty, what you see below the waterline is not a pleasant sight: seawater and the passage of time corrode the iron so that it looks really battered and worn. These are no pleasure boats, that\u2019s for sure. But when you start seeing a ship as a future painting, that\u2019s a whole different story. Now, you have a concept that you develop and work out. Then, everything is clear, and the work is easy. The bottom line\u2019s you don\u2019t need to invent anything. You just have to notice!<\/p>\n RC: <\/strong>The theme for the \u201cLost Villages\u201d came the same way?<\/strong><\/p>\n JK: Yes. The idea was to find out what happened to once-living villages and see whether they exist today as anything more than mere points on a map. I charted the route myself and went on expeditions with my camera to try and find them. Thus I soaked up the impressions. By and large, we have so many places that used to have vibrant communities, bustling with life, and now they\u2019re just wastelands. Forests, fields, traces of land drains\u2026 And no more villages.<\/p>\n RC: Your concepts are based on actual research!<\/strong><\/p>\n JK: (Laughs) The main thing\u2019s to find the thread. Then the work becomes much more exciting. It\u2019s such a driver! I\u2019m not much of a plein air painter. They remind me of school when you\u2019re given a task that needs to be done no matter what. Some find it helpful. I don\u2019t. Sure, I can whip something up, but there\u2019s no real spark.<\/p>\n RC: So you don\u2019t like commissions?<\/strong><\/p>\n JK: No, I don\u2019t. That\u2019s just how I work \u2013 I need an idea, a concept, and then buckle up! (laughs).<\/p>\n RC: Working only when inspiration strikes \u2013 that takes guts.<\/strong><\/p>\n JK: Commissions just don\u2019t spark my interest. Maybe I do it wrongly, I mean when I don\u2019t sit down to pain every day. But I can\u2019t help it! I need my curiosity piqued.<\/p>\n RC: Male artists have it easier than women \u2013 they can focus their tunnel vision on one theme or need without having to split their attention. They don\u2019t need to put in so much effort to stay focused. Would you agree?<\/strong><\/p>\n JK: That\u2019s not for me to say (laughs). But I also feel I\u2019m stealing time from my family. I can\u2019t let it go to fully focus only on what I like. I really can\u2019t. One might say I work very little. This means shifting my attention more or less nonstop. Coming back to things. In Vi\u013caka, at the Valdis Bu\u0161s Plein Air, I could experience absolute immersion in creativity. I didn\u2019t come with a ready concept. I just went there, and it somehow worked out.<\/p>\n RC: <\/strong>Was it hard to assemble your show for the Rothko Centre?<\/strong><\/p>\n JK: You know, it wasn\u2019t. The curator (M\u0101ris \u010ca\u010dka \u2013 ed.) said what he wanted to see. I only worried I wouldn\u2019t have enough paintings to give him (smiles). But the show came out so nice and compact, and it\u2019s not jammed either, so I think we did great!<\/p>\n RC: Do you have any topics that just don\u2019t intrigue you no matter what?<\/strong><\/p>\n JK: I don\u2019t paint from nature. I mean landscape. That\u2019s simply not my thing. If I find something that\u2019ll take my breath away, maybe. And I\u2019ve been thinking \u2013 why is it that I don\u2019t paint people? Wait, I did have a project involving the human form. You may remember, in Soviet schools, they had posters on civil defence. Well, at basic military training, we had such posters on the classroom wall, and I took them home. They were military posters about soldier life. I was intrigued by how this picture \u201cworked\u201d \u2013 its composition and message. So I drew something similar (laughs). That\u2019s when I knew a picture could be an instruction, a powerful wordless message. Now here\u2019s a concept for you!<\/p>\n RC: So you haven\u2019t painted people since then. Why is that?<\/strong><\/p>\n JK: Weeelll\u2026 You\u2019d need to unlock their true persona, to catch the right vibe and get on the same wavelength. If you just sit down and paint, I\u2019m afraid it\u2019s gonna be pretty childish.<\/p>\n RC: What triggers your creativity?<\/strong><\/p>\n JK: What I said, the concept and a burning wish to act on your idea as soon as can be. And angst that someone else will paint your painting before you. These things happen when you set your idea aside for later, and someone just ups and does it! And you may be complete strangers who\u2019ve never met, never talked to each other. The other one\u2019s just had the same idea and gone for it. Sooner than me. P\u0113teris Martinsons once told me something about it when we were installing an exhibition at the Design Museum. So he said: \u201cIdeas come to one person, then to another. You\u2019ve done yours like this. Someone else will do theirs differently. And what\u2019s the most frustrating? When you\u2019ve wasted yours and failed to give it life. And you\u2019ve no one to blame but yourself.\u201d So no beating around the bush!<\/p>\n RC: <\/strong>Name a project that turned out exactly as you planned.<\/strong><\/p>\n JK: Now this is interesting. As soon as I finish a project, I say goodbye. I don\u2019t like chewing the old gum while walking down the memory lane. I do my thing, and I let it go. And I move on. Once in Estonia, I half-made an intricate plaster form, and I brought it home, just in case. So it kept sitting there, taking space, and I didn\u2019t know what to do with it. I just didn\u2019t care enough. Finish it? But why go into the same river. Throw it out? Not really. So I can\u2019t give you an answer. Once, someone asked me: \u201cHey, do you remember that painting that made everyone go \u2018wow\u2019?\u201d But I don\u2019t. And who is everyone?… (shrugs)<\/p>\n RC: What\u2019s your relationship with fame?<\/strong><\/p>\n JK: We all need praise. It\u2019s important that my projects get approved. I mean by different funds. When it doesn\u2019t happen, it\u2019s a hard thing to take. And yet, although not all of my project applications are accepted, I still do them. Sure, it\u2019s easy. But I make it happen.<\/p>\n