"Fission" Sculpture

Svetlana Saveļjeva was born in 1989 in Daugavpils, Latvia, and has been living and working permanently in Riga since 2006. She obtained both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Sculpture at the Latvian Academy of Arts (2013–2019). In 2018, she also studied Visual Arts at Escola Massana Centre d’Art i Disseny de Barcelona as part of the Erasmus+ exchange programme. Prior to that, she studied at the Design Department of Riga Art and Media School, where she received a diploma in Interior Design (2006–2010). She further expanded her knowledge at the Faculty of Education, Psychology and Art of the University of Latvia, studying Design (2010–2013). Her first artistic foundations were acquired at the Daugavpils Children’s Art School “Saules skola” (2001–2006), where she defended her diploma work in Visual Plastic Arts. Since 2014, she has participated in exhibitions in Latvia and internationally, including in the United Kingdom, FIDEM congress exhibitions in Belgium, Canada, Japan, Italy, and Germany, the Baltic Triennale, as well as medal art exhibitions in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, and other countries. She creates sculptures of various genres and scales, working both in round sculpture and medal art. She is currently a member of the International Art Medal Federation (FIDEM). Svetlana Saveļjeva leads the Folk Sculpture Studio DOMA at VEF Culture Palace and works as an educator at Riga Students’ Palace, teaching Sculpture and Ceramics courses. In her artistic practice, she reflects subjective philosophical observations on characteristic, typical, or spontaneous human behaviour when confronted with contemporary social issues and beliefs. In the process of creation, it is important for her to feel inseparable from the work itself. Her allegorical sculptures portray people of the real world with their inherent virtues and flaws, behavioural patterns, emotions, and desires. The choice of subject matter in her works is closely connected to processes and developments within society. Human thoughts exist in a constant dialogue between existential questions and everyday responsibilities. These thoughts are frequently reconsidered and transformed in the search for answers and new interpretations of truths about humanity that have long been known.