“If you are not a romantic and an idealist, it seems that in today’s material age it would be difficult to stay in this profession,” says painter Ieva Liepiņa. Her personal exhibition “Restoration of Memories” was opened in the art gallery “Bazar’t”.
The exhibition presents the painter’s latest works, as well as paintings from previous years’ personal exhibitions.
A look back at what happened
“The exhibition includes works created in the last twenty years, as well as works that have just been created, some are still ‘wet’,” says the artist, adding that there are 24 paintings in total and all but one are painted in the traditional oil technique.
“I don’t like acrylic paints, but sometimes I use them if I need them quickly. They are useful in plein air, wall paintings, illustrations. Although – I mostly use watercolor and colored pencils for illustrations, but oil colors are alive, breathing, only the drying process takes time,” says the artist. She creates her works using classic genres – portrait, still life, landscape, sometimes interweaving them with each other.
The paintings are from different creative periods, from different exhibitions – in the galleries “Daugava”, “Istaba”, Bauska Art Museum, etc. That’s why it has such a name – because it is a look back at what happened, what was important in each period, how the handwriting, themes, colors changed.
A project of love and friendship
The artist Ieva Liepiņa has been organizing international plein airs in Mazirbe for 13 years together with the painter Agnija Gērmani.
He paints portraits of Libyans, their houses and gardens, traditional folk costumes.
The exhibition also includes works from the painting series “Libyan Gardens”.
“The origins of Mazirbe plein air are very old. More than thirty years ago, my classmates Agnija Đermane and Inga Brüvere became friends with the family of the Miller family. I also visited there at that time, but less often, because my children were small. After some time, Veronika and Edgar Miller met again. At that time, the Libyan People’s House was unused and they proposed to stay there, painting. We started with landscapes, then Veronika came up with the idea of local portraits of Libyans. And also the idea that the artists of the Finnish peoples should be invited. That’s how the plein air became wider,” says Ieva Liepiņa.
“Later, friends from other nations joined – artists, the plein air home changed. There were houses of Zembach, “Dzintariņi” and this year for the second time we were hosted by houses in Košrag.
All the support comes only from locals, their relatives and friends,” the artist is grateful, emphasizing that it is a project of love and friendship.
“Over the years, an extensive collection of portraits has been built up. Many models have already gone to the sun. Every year, the new open-air works are shown to the residents of the surrounding districts, and they have something to discuss about who is similar and who is not,” says the artist, adding that there have also been open-air exhibitions in Tallinn and Tartu (Estonia) and Budapest (Hungary).
The bearer of the emotional message
Drawing is of great importance in Ieva Liepiņa’s paintings, she is interested in the plasticity of rhythms and lines, fine development of details. The intensity of the colors is stepped up in places and the color areas are thinly layered on top of each other in order to maintain the transparency of the surface and watercolor lightness.
Figurative memory helps to memorize and reproduce people’s faces, natural landscapes, situations, melodies, tastes and smells, while emotional memory allows you to remember what you have experienced.
In her paintings, the artist combines the moment of life with her emotional vision, aiming to leave a visual imprint for the restoration of our common memories.
Reality is romanticized and aestheticized in Ieva Liepiņa’s paintings. Man, elements of nature, the material world, the urban environment – they are all poetic images, the bearer of an emotional message for the viewer.
“Yes, I am also a romantic in life. Only without candles, I’m afraid of them, since the neighbor almost blew my parents away with a candle,” says the artist. She thinks: if you are not a romantic and an idealist, it would be difficult to stay in this profession in today’s material age.
Fear passes
If in the artist’s earlier works the human figure was often treated as a recognizable cultural-historical sign or an idealized generalization of the figure, now the portrayal of a real contemporary becomes more important for the artist.
“Ah, contemporaries, I also meet such dreamers… Let’s say, Jūrkalne blacksmith Ainars Rullis – he is an artist at heart. In his hands, a stone brought from the sea turns into a flower, an apple, a butterfly or a dragonfly…”
But the time is full of fear right now, says Ieva Liepiņa. She admires her friends – Ukrainian artists who are able to work while the guns are sounding. But as they themselves say, this is the only thing that saves.
“For about three months, I didn’t understand why to paint at all… Everything seemed so pointless…
But then Ukrainian artists came with an exhibition from Mariampole and, ignoring my request to stay with us in Latvia, left to paint. Fear of passing. The Belarusian painter also refused the invitation to come to us – because then who will manage her art studio for children with various types of disabilities?..”
Swim at night and early in the morning
“Summer could have lingered,” says Ieva Liepiņa. She painted the walls all summer and drew a children’s book in the early mornings.
“But luckily, I managed to have fun at the Song and Dance Festival, where my daughter and granddaughter also participated for the first time, and to enjoy the sea and the joy of being together for a week in the open air of Mazirbe, and to go to the exhibition of my friend Ingūnas Postaža and her father Pēteras Postaža in Bauska, and the Ukrainian friend Olga Hritsenko’s outdoor exhibition in Kintai, Lithuania. I also managed to visit and host friends, swim at night and early in the morning, enjoy a few sunsets in the sea… Instead of so many mushrooms, I found a beautiful heather meadow,” the artist likes to dwell on the feelings of the passing summer.
But Ieva is also looking forward to autumn with joy, because her solo exhibition “Restoration of Memories” was opened on her birthday – Thursday, September 7.
“A birthday is always a good reason for everyone to meet,” she says happily and also tells about her plans for the near future.
“The work continues. In March, I will have an exhibition at the Jurmala Museum – together with the Lithuanian artist Arvidas Brazdžiūnas. There are concerns about how to manage everything… The canvases have only just been started, and time is turning to the dark side again. Well, painters like that daylight…”
Paints porcelain and illustrates books
Ieva Liepiņa (1967) was born in Riga, in 1985 she graduated from the Janis Rozentāls Art High School and in 1991 she graduated from the Department of Monumental Painting of the Latvian Academy of Arts under the guidance of professor Indulis Zariņš. Obtained a master’s degree in painting (2003) and ceramics (2014). Participates in exhibitions since 1989. Works in portrait and monumental painting, paints porcelain and illustrates books.
“I don’t have enough hours for porcelain at the moment, because painting requires stopping at rest, precision and care.
I see that the Porcelain Museum will once again have an International Small Form Porcelain Exhibition (15 authors from seven countries will participate in the exhibition “Pure Color”, which will be on view from October 20 to December 10). I like it so much, but – well, I can’t do everything,” the artist states and promises herself, as always, that she will definitely participate next year.
Ieva Liepiņa’s exhibition “Restoration of Memories” will be on view at the art gallery “Bazar’t” (t/c “Mols”, 2nd floor, Krasta iela 46, Riga) until September 30 (every day from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.).
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2023-09-08 09:34:48
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