Starting from August 16, the Riga Porcelain Museum invites visitors to explore Liene Mackus' latest works showcased in personal exhibition "The Beginning". The exhibition is set up in the museum's display windows, allowing viewers to appreciate the artworks at any hour of the day.

Liene Mackus is an academically trained sculptor who works interdiscursively at the intersection of various media, ideas, and materials. She has always been drawn to ceramic materials, particularly porcelain, which she first engaged with while creating the installation "In My Own Rythms" for the group exhibition "Hello, Head!" (Latvian Railway History Museum, curated by Helena Demakova, 2014). This installation told a poetic story of a gardener who carves a palm and a camel from leafy trees. The stop-motion animation depicted an endless loop where the exotic saplings grew back repeatedly, while the gardener cut them again and again. In the contemporary group exhibition "Visceral Transitions" (Aspazija House in Jurmala, curated by Jana Kukaine, 2022), visitors could see a group of sculptures by Liene Mackus, in which the artist explored the transition between the human and post-human, the living and the non-living, addressing issues of women's collective identity. The artist recalls, “Holding the porcelain mass in my hands, I remember the technical challenges and hours of patience it took to create the gardener's figure and the fragile palm, which was displayed under a glass dome.”

In her latest solo exhibition “Beginning” at the Riga Porcelain Museum, the artist invites viewers to immerse themselves in her world, where art, family history, and garden life intertwine. Each year, Liene Mackus plants the bean seeds inherited from her grandmother in her garden, using them as a starting point for reflections on nature, its abundance, the power of life, and the cyclical processes of nature; regarding humanity's place in this circle of life, the bonds of kinship and roots, as well as cultures and traditions. It is an emotional narrative, expressed in porcelain, about nature, personal values, and collective heritage. The artist describes the exhibition's conception: “The themes I have explored over the past ten years have looped back like animation, bringing me back to the exploration of gardens and the 'objects' found there that can be transformed into poetic works. The seeds found in the garden symbolize a starting point for connecting natural cycles with the body, seeking anatomical similarities. Observing the shapes of the seeds and the incredible potential for life within them, their power to grow, inspires contemplation and fantasy about the miracle of life. I regard them as sacred mothers with incredible potential for growth and transformation. Therefore, I see the windows of the Riga Porcelain Museum as three 'altars,' each housing seeds at various stages of growth.”

Liene Mackus holds a Master's degree in Arts, having graduated from the Sculpture Department of the Art Academy of Latvia. Her creative work encompasses installation art, scenography, book illustration, and animation, which she herself refers to as moving sculpture. Liene Mackus is known for her ability to blend various artistic disciplines, creating unique objects and installations that address social and environmental themes, encouraging reflection on the individual's relationship with the surrounding environment and society. She is a candidate for various awards, including the Purvīša Prize and the Jānis Baltvilks Prize, and is the author of unusual environmental art projects in Riga, such as the bench “Riga Lion” on Kr. Valdemāra Street and the playground near the Riga Dome Cathedral. In recent years, she has also focused on ceramic materials, crafting and personally glazing porcelain, stoneware, and other sculptural objects.

Liene Mackus' solo exhibition “The Beginning” at the Riga Porcelain Museum will be open from August 16, 2024, to October 13, 2024. The exhibition will be accompanied by informative supplementary materials available on the museum's online channels, specifically on  facebook.com/porcelanamuzejs/, youtube.com/@rigasporcelanamuzejs, and instagram.com/riga_porcelain_museum/ .

The exhibition has been made possible with the financial support of the Culture Capital Foundation (KKF).