Painting
When I'm not designing interfaces, I'm usually covered in paint or trying out craft of the day. Long before UX entered my life, painting and textile work were how I made sense of the world — through texture, color, and the quiet satisfaction of making something with my hands.
Here's a glimpse into two of my biggest series of works — Bachelor’s and Master’s thesis.
Compatibility
Master's Thesis, 2023-2024
Title: ‘’Saderība’’ (Eng. Compatibility)
Technical specification: Oil, pastels, charcoal, acrylic on 12mm wood plywood; 23 parts
Supervisor: Vija Zariņa, Mg.art., associate professor
The aim of the work: To explore and visually represent the compatibility and relationship between humans and plants from a scientific point of view, using the technique of oil painting on an irregularly shaped wooden base.
The series consists of 23 wooden panels, each seeming to continue into the next — inviting the viewer to search for compatibility between them.
"Painting offers a way to connect things that would never see each other in nature."
"Even though some of the plants I've painted would never exist side by side in reality, in these paintings, they live their own life.’’
"With each flower, we feel our own Compatibility — grounded not so much in science as in a string of associations, taste, and need." — Saulcerīte Viese
"I'm struck by how complex, and how strikingly human-like, plant life really is."
"What lies behind the symbols and inner sensations that lead our thoughts back to Earth's earliest inhabitants — at a time when artificial intelligence is advancing?"
Empty film
Bachelor's thesis , ‘‘Tuksie kadri’’ (‘‘Empty film’’)
Pigments, ochre, oil, varnish, wooden panels
4 × 21 × 15.5 × 5.2 cm
1 × 32 × 32 × 5.25 cm
1 × 32 × 26 × 5.25 cm
1 × 63 × 91 × 5.25 cm
1 × 89.5 × 133 × 5 cm
Thesis supervisor: Professor Kristaps Zariņš
This series began in Spain, during a six-month Erasmus+ exchange — after an incorrectly loaded roll of film cost me 36 sentimental, inspirational shots. The empty frames sparked a need to repaint what I remembered but never captured. I kept the analog spirit alive through dry pigments on wood, earth tones, monochrome, charcoal, and varnish — echoing the detached, imperfect glimpse of a film camera. Some paintings focus on precise details; others are just breezes of color and atmosphere, as memory tends to work.
Most pieces trace two months spent exploring Spain's southern coast — from Almería to Portugal, and the mountain road home to Granada. Mornings with sand underfoot, nights of restless waves and endless stars — that rhythm still guides my work today.
"The empty frames sparked a strong desire to revive the memory of what had been visually perceived but never captured."
"Hearing the restless dance of waves at night... and gazing up at the endless order of the stars — that has become a guiding thread in my artistic practice today."
"We experience life's most beautiful fleeting moments without any photographic record at all, and yet photography still connects one such moment to another."
