Photo reportage from the exhibition 'Possibilities' by Paula Zariņa-Zēmane at Tartu Art House

September 20, 2023
Author Echo Gone Wrong

On 8 September the Latvian painter Paula Zariņa-Zēmane opened her solo exhibition “Possibilities” in the monumental gallery of the Tartu Art House. The curator of the exhibition is Peeter Talvistu.

The exhibition continues Zariņa-Zēmane’s latest series “Changes”, but now these changes have been turned into new opportunities, while movement itself remains at the core of her works. This time she also introduces fragility via ceramics: the oval shape present in all of the materials is the result of her own gestures, which made her think of a ceaseless and never-ending circle of life, the driving force behind all processes. The works act like slices of reality – either physical or spiritual – creating a boundary between the inside and the outside, the abstract and the figurative.

The artist states: “Until 2018, most of my paintings were imaginary landscapes, balancing between the figural and the abstract, illustrating philosophical reflections on existence, time and space. It seems that now I am ready to go deeper into the landscape and deeper into me. These works are like natural minerals: slices of marble deposited over millennia, slices of my personal perceptions and experiences deposited over a lifetime. Although the distances, depths and atmospheres are familiar, the introduction of ceramics brings in a new point of view and a new physicality.”

Paula Zariņa-Zēmane (b. 1988) is a painter from Latvia who graduated from the Art Academy of Latvia (both BA and MA). Although her works have been on display at group exhibitions in various countries, this is her first solo exhibition outside Latvia. In the Tartu Art House, she was previously shown in 2012 and her last appearance in Tartu was last year at the Kogo Gallery (“Three of a Kind”, curator: Juriaan Benschop).

The exhibition is supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia.

Photography: Marje Eelma