14.04. - 14.05.2022

Galerija "Māksla XO"

Elizabetes iela 14, Rīga, LV 1010

LAIMA BIKSE

Small Sculptures

With paint on canvas, less often on a wooden surface, Laima Bikse creates her world of stories. The layers in her paintings are added one after another, their surface is carefully treated - polished, scratched, glazed; in some places layers of paint can be so thin, that the canvas is left completely bare, its roughness contrasting with the fine drawing.
The title of the new exhibition “Small Sculptures” tells about Laima Bikse’s openness to a brand new, three-dimensional space. The monumental form in small sculptural rendition and Laima Bikse's feminine sensibility have created a new quintessence.

“How did I begin this?
At one point I just started to make figurines. Not back then – in my youth – but now, nearing the old age. I created the first “real” sculpture when I found a twig (leg) by the seashore and crafted a horse around it. Thus it became “Horse with a Wooden Leg”. I was overwhelmed by the joy of inventiveness, and before I knew it, I had created a couple of more small sculptures without even realizing. There is still no routine, no proficiency. There is a convincing feeling of being "green as a gooseberry".
At the same time, I became more interested in the formal aspects of painting - structures, forms, etc., instead of depicting my own personal stories. Apparently, the personal motives broke out as a small-form sculpture, because, it's no secret that I like to tell stories, you could even say I'm a gossiper. At least in art.
At the moment, I have almost given up uncertainty and accepted sculpture as an independent form of my self-expression.
The dubious “I” is still a little afraid of what the esteemed G. Pantelejevs might say, for example, when he sees that I’m suddenly tip-toeing in his field, although still in the periphery, in the bushes, because I have not yet appeared to the general public in this role.

What is it all about?
Heroes who are not heroes, but maybe they are, but most likely they’re not. I portray a kind of a “little man.” Someone who could play a comical protagonist in a comedy, but would actually have a sad character and unawareness that they are funny. He is a bit of a loser (by today's standards), he has a will, but not always the skill; he is too sensitive, indecisive and definitely longs for happiness.

My heroes.
* Why bear and other animals?
Somehow, they seem very human, whoever they are.
I think the bear is rather abstract. He doesn't wear skirts or pants, maybe he is too lazy to dress up, adapt every morning, leave an impression on fellow beings. No one knows what's behind the fur. But I assume that the cliché bears wander through minds of the viewers and do not stop.

* Couples.
Someone holds you or you hold someone. You don't really need anything else. A quiet love.

Format:
A small plaster monument to a no-hero,” Laima Bikse, November 2021.

Laima Bikse (1970) graduated from the Painting Department of the Art Academy of Latvia, professor Imants Vecozols workshop (1997). Participates in exhibitions since 1997 and has organized 27 solo exhibitions in Latvia, Norway and Germany. Laima Bikse has illustrated several books, including her own book “Be My Friend” (“Esi mans draugs”), for which she received the “Zvaigznes grāmata 2008. Latvian Original Literature for Children and Youth” award in 2008.
Laima Bikse's works are included in public collections: Bank of Latvia (Riga, Latvia), Swedbank Contemporary Art Collection (Riga, Latvia).