Sea and Sky 2 Print

I am a Latvian/Canadian multi-disciplinary artist, working in the medium of film, photography and painting, a history and theatre graduate from the University of Toronto and New Media graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design. Taking roads less travelled, I have lived in different places around the world, immersed in different cultures and spent most of the 90's living in Riga, Latvia. I worked extensively as a performance/installation artist before devoting to film professionally for over 30 years as a production designer, set decorator/buyer, wardrobe supervisor, camerawoman, film financing consultant and script/story editor. My current project takes me into the realm of curating a contemporary textile/fibre art exhibition. My own narrative and documentary films (as a writer, director) have played at international festivals garnering critical acclaim. I have served as a jury member on various arts councils and continue to mentor young artists. In this time of societal upheaval - What do we value, hold dear? Where do we find Solace? Home? Safety? Hope? Joy? What new forms of self, identity, family, community, ritual or habit can we create beyond boundaries and old paradigms of being to experience more kindness, love, grounding and happiness? I live these questions daily and they inform my creative process. This allows me to find meaning through the personal interfacing with the universal through the conception of visual art as a language of communication, an act of communion and soulful connection to others and the world. A work always makes itself known to me, be it an image, a word, a feeling, a sensation which lingers, persists, then unfolds in an organic manner wanting to be explored, developed, realized and shared. My paintings began in 2014 as an intuitive exploration of line and colour drawing, while healing from a leg injury. The instinctual sensitivity and lightness of this process, especially working with colour, offers a playful balance in my life to the more rigorous intellectual and existential nature of the work I create with text, analog photography and film. All my paintings are created on acid free stretched canvas with the highest quality acrylic GOLDEN™ paints.