Cruel Romances (2021/2022) is a concentrate of impressions from the hot summer of 2021 in Latgale. The geometry of the cycle draws on the moving interior of the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Šķilbēni (Rekova) — varnished plywood rhombuses strung in endless rows. Like prayer beads, or like the little chains of votive offerings that adorn Catholic icons in gratitude for heard prayers. The shapes of the votives — a heart, hands, legs, the silhouette of an eye — most often reveal what each was given for. As Sister Marija of Aglona, who has studied the history of votive offerings since 2009, explains: "It's harder to understand, for example, a votive in the shape of a heart… whether it's love, or a person giving heartfelt thanks for something." Matters of the heart are indeed never simple. Perhaps Cruel Romances is also the artist's own parable about creation.
Text: Ieva Rupenheite
