Kristine Abika

Kristine Abika (born 1975, Riga, Latvia) lives and works in Latvia. She studied at the Jānis Rozentāls Riga Art High School and graduated from the Latvian Academy of Arts with a BA in Stage Design and an MA in Painting.

Her artistic practice is rooted in painting, with a strong focus on texture, line, and close observation. In recent years, she has replaced traditional canvas with used metal surfaces, allowing material relief and found elements to emerge from the pictorial plane. The works explore the tension between durability and fragility, surface and volume.

Alongside her visual art practice, Abika has an extensive background in theatre, having worked on more than fifty productions as a scenographer and costume designer. This experience informs her sensitivity to material, scale, and the poetic potential of substance.

She is particularly drawn to overlooked, ordinary objects, transforming them into intimate yet monumental compositions. Her work is influenced by artists such as Richard Serra, Francesco Clemente, Amedeo Modigliani, and Giorgio Morandi, as well as Brutalist architecture, early 20th-century photography, and minimalism.

Kristine Abika has held multiple solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions inter...

From 2002 Member of Artists' Union of Latvia (LMS)
1999-2001 Art Academy of Latvia, Painting Department, MA
1995-1999 Art Academy of Latvia, Stage Design Department, BA
1988-1995 Jan Rozentals Art High School

SOLO EXHIBITIONS (Selected)

“A Gardener’s Year”, Kuldīga Artists’ Residence Gallery, 2024
“Meteorites in Ķimale”, Ķimale Manor, 2024
“Brazilwood: Part I”, Great Amber Concert Hall, Liepāja, 2020
“Antennas and Satellites”, Astronauts Gallery, Riga, 2018
“Crystal Grid”, Kuldīga Artists’ Residence Gallery, 2017
“Tin Landscapes”, Istaba Gallery, Riga, 2016
“Dupuža Expeditions”, Istaba Gallery, Riga, 2007

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

“Sea of Memories”, Jūrmala City Museum, 2019
“Kur Zeme?”, Artists’ Residence Gallery, Kuldīga, 2018
10th Anniversary Exhibition, Istaba Gallery, Riga, 2014
Prague Quadriennale 1999 — UNESCO Award for Exposition