See how the paintbrush opens up the Garden of Eden

  • 2012-01-18
  • By Sam Logger

Emotions and memories mix in the artist’s vision of nature.

RIGA - Every person dreams about a journey to a place which is full of divine emotions and astonishment. Possibly every person also has this private paradise within themselves, which comes along wherever that person goes. Some of us put these impressions to work and create art pieces. The painter Kristine Luize Avotina presents her own insight into paradise at the exhibition “Bali – the Garden of Eden,” which can be seen at the exhibition hall Arsenals till Jan. 29.
Kristine Luize Avotina, born in 1983, can be named as one of the most colorful artists of the Latvian painting environment. Educated at Latvia’s Academy of Arts and Escola Massana in Barcelona, she has actively organized exhibitions, including one-man shows, from the beginning. Her style is all about bright colors and various line rhythms, where the handwriting has been inspired by symbolism, art nouveau and postimpressionism, all of them creating an individual touch and form of expression.

The exhibition “Bali – the Garden of Eden” is another mix of emotions and memories. Kristine Luize says that Bali is the land of gods. “On the first day, when I arrived there, I had my breath taken away, watching how green everything was, how lively the trees and flowers bloomed. The ocean was also a discovery to me – the power and color of its water, just as the warmth and the world, that was hidden under the upper layer of the water. Every day on the island seemed infinite, this is where I saw what I had been longing for,” the artist adds. And there is no wonder that the main emphasis of the exhibition is found in nature, playing with everything that comes from it, starting with the colors and ending with the placement in the hierarchy of nature. The canvas brings that vivacity into action, supplementing the most obvious things, such as the order of every single piece of nature, with the most unpredictable things, like the human mind.

The artist notes that “unifying the beauty of nature and human’s ability to love, paradise emerges, the Garden of Eden prospers.” In this interaction the place is left for personal interpretation of what arises in the emotional world and makes a person look at the things a bit differently.  

The exhibition clearly enlightens the greyness of the streets that can be seen outside the hall. There is a feeling that the colors of the paintings drag you into them, like saying you can easily come with me to see the beauty of the island, as the rush of the day and the blues can stand in the corner for a minute while you get some positive energy. Additionally, the viewer can see the admiration which is sent out by the hands of the artist, proving that the exhibition is really a complete journey into the emotions of Kristine Luize Avotina. What excites one the most is the suspicion that the paintings include diverse personifications of the artist herself. Otherwise these memories make blank marks in the visitor’s mind, which may be different from those that the artist wants to convey.

What is the Garden of Eden? Is it a place where peace meets us and lets us gain an expected lift of strength? Or is it a simple point on the globe and has nothing to do with energy? It is hoped that the Garden is still the private paradise where the most precious memories are kept to let us realize we have a purpose in life. This exhibition is like reading material that enables one to dream about the places which are far more important than those where we live our ordinary lives. As soon as we find this paradise, we stick to it and never let go. Kristine Luize Avotina gives us a part of her paradise, and it is wonderful.