Approved: 17.10.2011

Inguna Gremzde

Artist

Approved: 17.10.2011

Gremzde's practice explores complex human and nature relationship issues regarding nature as a focus for the formation of individual and community's identity. Growing separateness from nature and dominating consumer lifestyle results in more time spent in constructed, artificial spaces like shopping malls and waiting halls defined as non-places, which being real measure of our time opposed to places have no identity, relations and history. The scene of nature paid close look at as opposite can open itself to reveal a secret life, a narrativity and history outside the given field of perception.

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    Artist Statement

    Gremzde's practice explores complex human and nature relationship issues regarding nature as a focus for the formation of individual and community's identity. Growing separateness from nature and dominating consumer lifestyle results in more time spent in constructed, artificial spaces like shopping malls and waiting halls defined as non-places, which being real measure of our time opposed to places have no identity, relations and history. The scene of nature paid close look at as opposite can open itself to reveal a secret life, a narrativity and history outside the given field of perception.

    Part of Gremzde's practice is constituted of miniature landscape paintings placed in standardized plastic bottle caps, which are a small world on it's own without national restrictions depicting sky, fields and woods, surrounded by contemporary frame. Even not showing any trace of human presence  the scenes compare contemporary consumer lifestyles with man's historically romantic relationship with nature. These small landscapes could have been intended for looking at when seized by a vague feeling of necessity to escape from undefined urban environment. Conceptually miniature scale could be regarded as a reference to the shrinking space of unaltered nature. The work in the same time investigates the common trend of landscape being regarded as unclean and unsafe unless neatly packaged, managed, labeled and turned into commodity. Important aspect of the project was to upcycle discarded caps, attempting to reduce the amount of single-use plastic waste in the world in some way.

    The other part of project consists of paintings of a figure, dressed black-and-white wandering in plastic world, casting no shadow, each movement being monitored by surveillance cameras. Alone, but one of many, user of non-place is in contractual relations with it, a form of reminder being empty trolley he trundles round the supermarket. These round shaped images reminding of spy hole exploring the patterns of collective behavior and carrying a sense of dystopia masked by artificial supermarket environment are both intimate miniatures and mass-produced portraits of single figure on non-narrative shopping trip. The image painted on the reverse side of transparent plastic lid locks the inhabitant of the scene behind the plastic screen as opposite the directness of colourful landscapes.

    The works reference their hybrid status as image, object and installation and are mostly exhibited as a group of numerous single pieces to reveal their greatest impact through a repetitive structure on the wall, to expose a common formal and conceptual stand. Like in any repetitive strategy the serial method boosts its single image as its formal visuality and intellectual concept get multiplied.

    CV & Education

    Qualifications and training:

    2011 - MA Fine Art, Wimbledon College of Art, London

    2009 - BA Humanities and Fine Art, Art Academy of Latvia, Painting department

     

    Publications/ Reviews:

    2019 'Three’s a Trend: Blake and Hannah Sanders, and LHUCA’s Eyes on the Planet' by Natalie Hegert https://glasstire.com/2019/07/19/threes-a-trend-blake-and-hannah-sanders-and-lhucas-eyes-on-the-planet

    2017 '32 Degrees Latitude' by Tish Greenwood - http://cmato.org/gremzde

    2016 Art: Museum focuses on 'The City' by Joseph and Barrie Ann George - http://cumberlink.com/entertainment/local-scene/art-museum-focuses-on-the-city/article_07e49b2e-d3bd-5760-956c-e058948939c1.html

    2016 'Art in Plain English' by Susan Hodara - http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/nyregion/at-exhibitions-in-peekskill-art-in-plain-english.html

    2014 'Restless' at 126 Gallery, part of Galway International Arts Festival, by Aidan Dunne - http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/galway-s-festival-of-pictures-pop-opera-and-soundscapes-1.1868378

    2013 'Rubbish' by Alice Bradshaw - http://www.axisweb.org/features/profile/curated-selections/alice-bradshaw

    2012 'Vacant Lots at WW Gallery' by Anna McNay - http://art-corpus.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/review-of-susie-hamilton-inguna-gremzde.html

    2011 Axis MAStar by WW Gallery - http://www.axisweb.org/features/profile/mastars/inguna-gremzde/

     

    Solo/ 2Person shows:

    2020 Little Water, Little Stone - They Live Sun's Long Life - The View Arts Center; Old Forge, NY, US

    2019 Through a Silver Grove I Went Without Breaking a Twig - The 621 Gallery; Tallahassee, FL, US

    2019  Upcoming Memories - The Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts; Lubbock, TX, US

    2012  Crossroads - Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts, NY, US

    2012  Vacant Lots with Susie Hamilton - WW Gallery; London, UK

    Internationally, Gremzde's works have been on view in group exhibitions in US, Canada, Germany, France, Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, Israel, Japan and South Korea.