Ingrīda Pičukāne (1978, Latvia) is an artist and a teacher in animation and comics at the Riga Art and media school. She graduated from the Art Academy of Latvia, Estonian Academy of Arts and Jānis Rozentāls Art High School. She works in different techniques: drawing, comics, video, animation, installations, murals and live performance. Pičukāne has participated in several editions of the contemporary art festival “Survival Kit”, in many international comics exhibitions and illustrated children’s books published by “Liels un mazs”. Lately Pičukāne has been mostly interested in feminist art, drawing comics with female characters, making large scale paintings, and has published a feminist zine “Samanta”. She is also very passionate about going in nature, foraging and exploring wild edible plants.

Lidija Zaneripa graduated from the Visual Communication Faculty of the Latvian Academy of Arts in 2021 and obtained a master’s degree. She participates in exhibitions and organises interdisciplinary art events both in Latvia and abroad.

Lidija works with static and moving images, as well as experimental sound art. In her practice, she is looking for errors in rendered reality, and for visual and contextual nuances in trivial actions and events. She tends to look ironically at moments of reality and to avoid dullness caused by seriousness.

Kristīne Krauze-Slucka is a visual artist based in Riga. In her practice, she works with a conceptual approach and observes phenomena of change between man, technology, and nature, often focusing on the materiality aspects of the chosen media. 

She has obtained a Fine Art Master’s degree from the Visual Communication Department of the Latvian Academy of Arts (2020). She received a scholarship from the foundation of the painter Valdemārs Tone, the Grand Prix of Nordic and Baltic Young Artist Award 2020, and the special prize of the Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT 2021. Twice nominated for the prestigious “Purvītis Prize.” 

Antoine Reserbat-Plantey is a researcher with more than 10 years of experience in fundamental experimental physics. He works mostly with optics and cryogenics (-270°). He obtained his PhD at Néel Institute (France) on nano-optomechanics of graphene and then moved to Barcelona to join the Institute for Photonic Sciences. There, he further explored the optical properties of 2D materials. His main focus is the interaction between a single quantum of light — a photon — and purely 2D objects which does not have volume. He is fascinated by how is the nano-world, and what laws of physics are ruling it.

“‘The dynamics of science are not different from those of the arts: success depends on a resonance between the individual’s imagination and the desires of the audience.'(Nature, 559-2018) For me, a collaboration between artists and scientists should exploit such resonances to stimulate creativity and reflective thinking. Coming from very different backgrounds, artists and scientists might seem to operate in completely different languages, however, we are also trained to communicate our knowledge and techniques using other means such as images, sounds, textures. I believe both artists and scientists have the ability to bridge the gap between the disciplines, and thus have the responsibility to collectively tackle the difficult issues happening in our society. As a researcher in fundamental physics, I know that new ideas may come from a non-rational or analytic mindset. Productions of the architect Jean Nouvel (KKL, Quai Branly) have directly influenced my works on suspended nanostructures.”

The work of Voldemars Johansons merges his interests in visuality, sound and science and explores the perception and nature of experience in visible and audible domains. He creates experimental projects that synthesize art, science and technology to explore diverse phenomena and represent the experience through environments assembled from the visual, acoustic and spatial structures. His research interests address the organic combination of acoustic information and spatial forms in creation of sonic environments and sculptures, examining the joint morphology of acoustic, visual and spatial domains. In his work borders between the perception of the visible, the invisible and the audible dissolve to create a unified perceptual situation. “Art has the privilege of being able to reflect about the unproven, the unrecognized, thus broadening the horizons of thinking,” comments the author.

In 2007 he attains a degree from Royal Conservatoire, Institute of Sonology in Den Haag  where he  studied composition of electronic music with Paul Berg, Joel Ryan and Kees Tazelaar among others. After graduation his research interests pursue organic combination of acoustic information and spatial forms in creation of sonic environments and sculptures, examining the joint morphology of acoustic, visual and spatial domains.
Johanson’s work has been presented at events and diverse venues internationally: the Venice biennial of Architecture, Ars Electronica Center (Linz), BOZAR (Brussels), Ruhrtriennale (de), TodaysArt Festival (The Hague), STEIM (Amsterdam), Sound Forest (Riga), Unsound Festival (Krakow), CAC Vilnius, Concertgebouw Brugge, WRO Media art biennale (Wroclaw), LISTE art fair (Basel), the Latvian National Opera and elsewhere.

Amy Mackie is a curator and writer based in New Orleans. Since 2013, she has served as the Director of PARSE NOLA, a nonprofit curatorial and research-based residency and art program. From 2011 to 2012 she was the Director of Visual Arts at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans and from 2007 to 2010, Curatorial Associate at the New Museum in New York.

She curated numerous exhibitions at both institutions. As an independent curator, she curated “It Could Go Either Way: Mariam Ghani + Erin Ellen Kelly” at Rogaland Kunstsenter in Stavanger, Norway in 2014 and at the Anchorage Museum in Anchorage, Alaska in 2015. Mackie was the recipient of a 2013 Curatorial Fellowship from the Stavanger Municipality Culture Department in Norway, a 2010 Research Fellowship at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, England, and a 2009 CEC Artslink Grant to produce a project in Bulgaria. She has lectured at Bard College, Brooklyn College, College of Charleston, and Yale University, and has written for Art in America, Art Papers, FANTOM Photographic Quarterly, Pelican Bomb, Universes in Universe, as well as numerous books and catalogues. Mackie holds a M.A. in curatorial studies from the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College and a B.A. in liberal arts from Sarah Lawrence College.

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Daria Fedchenko is a Ukrainian artist who is residing with us at PAiR since May 2022.

She has obtained a Bachelor degree from Printing and Publishing Institute of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” and ever since has worked with freelance drawing.

During her stay at the residency, Daria has been examining the surroundings of Pāvilosta and capturing the residency house in delicate drawings.

Sandra Kosorotova is a Tallinn-based artist and designer. She is working mainly with plants, textiles and text, often using surplus and / or biodegradable materials to create art objects, that also have practical applications.

In 2016 she graduated from the Fashion Design MA program at the Estonian Academy of Arts and was awarded the Young Applied Artist Prize by the academy the same year. She also holds a BA degree from the Graphic Design department of the same institution. From 2013 to 2016 Kosorotova co-led the NGO New Russian Culture in Estonia, established to create links between the Estonian- and Russian-speaking communities through cultural events. Currently she is co-running an open garden near Narva Art Residency in Narva, Estonia. In 2021 her works were exhibited in Kumu Art Museum (Tallinn), Tallinn Art Hall, Estonian Contemporary Art Museum EKKM, PUBLICS Helsinki, Kim? CAC (Riga), Institute for Environmental Solutions (Cēsis), Narva Art Residency NART, Estonian Mining Museum. Sandra also took part in the first Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art (RIBOCA1) in 2018.

The PAiR Residency open call program is supported by Nordic Culture Point.

Sille Kima is an artist, engineer and a mover in body, sense and sound. Her work is rooted in sensuality and collective ways of being. Her work looks at the interplay between the setting of boundaries and dissolution within relationships and power structures, with a dedication to scalar approach and directed towards the planetary. She also makes music about boredom in love and pollinate tomato blossoms, both on her windowsill and in gardens with open gates. One of those is an open garden and a garden residency she is co-running near Narva Art Residency in Narva, Estonia.

She asks, how does the trauma-activated boredom of coming to a standstill in environmental struggles color the relationship of human and the rest of the planetary ecosystem? How can we radically attend to the non-human with tenderness – without exploitation? What does it mean that “Where slavery has been, love is already tainted” (Hortense Spillers)?

In Pavilosta she will continue creating a new work based on sound and sensoriality that would convey the affect of benevolent boredom, in order to explore what is necessary for making space for solidarity and change in the realm of the pre-political, having ecological justice, the roots of (neo)colonial pain and violence stemming from Europe, and its effect on post-soviet Baltic identities in mind.

The PAiR Residency open call program is supported by Nordic Culture Point.

Rasmus Myrup (Born 1991, Copenhagen) is a Danish artist, whose work seeks a synthesis of the big and the small. With roots in our belonging to the natural realm, Myrup investigates the big narratives of humanity’s existence, evolution and history through the lens of small, personal and intimate emotions. Through his sculptures, installations and drawings, he seeks to understand other times, species and worlds – and in that way everything from Neanderthals to trees or folklore can provide new perspectives on our understanding of death, sex and power.
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His recent solo exhibitions include “Folx” at Nicolai Wallner (DK), “Re-member” me at Jack Barrett (US) and “Homo Homo” at Tranen Contemporary Art Center (DK).

The PAiR Residency open call program is supported by Nordic Culture Point.

Sabīne Šnē (1996) graduated with BFA (2020) from the department of Visual Communication of the Art Academy of Latvia. She has participated in various exhibitions and art projects in Latvia and internationally.
Sabīne Šnē constructs visual stories in order to explore intersections between culture and nature informed by historical and current ideas. She reflects on human desires, habits, traces of actions and their impact on the environment. The content of the work determines the end result but usually artist work with digital media.

The PAiR Residency open call program is supported by Nordic Culture Point.

Alëna Vinokurova is an artist born and raised in the Yakutia region of Russian Siberia. Alena’s work has predominately uses multiple screen video – installations, including 3D imagery, photography, as well as found images and archival footage. Her practice is focused on exploring synchronicity through the Internal landscape, intrinsically linking with the external ecosystems, re-activating memories stored in matter through rituals and dreams to draw parallels between personal, cultural, and ecological histories.

Her studies include a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, Utrecht (2021) and a Bachelor’s Degree in Photography from the British Higher School of Art and Design, Moscow (2016).

The PAiR Residency open call program is supported by Nordic Culture Point.

Maike Statz is an artist and interior architect educated in The Netherlands and Australia, now living in Bergen, Norway. Through her work she is engaged in the influence of architecture on individuals and society, focusing on the relationship between gender, sexuality and space. Working with writing and installation, Maike makes use of design tools and methodologies, questioning how history is embedded in our various architectures and what power dynamics are at play. Recently Maike introduced science fiction into her practice, suggesting feminist science fiction as a literary genre through which the cultural constructions of race, class, sex, sexuality, and gender can be decoded. What can we learn from spaces built through writing, in a context where reality is ruptured and re-imagined?

The PAiR Residency open call program is supported by Nordic Culture Point.

Erik Martinson (Canada/Latvia) is an independent curator and writer. Recent projects include: ‘The Years Without Light’ at Institute for Contemporary Arts (ICA), London; ‘Like
slow breathing, it seemed to emanate from inside the walls’ at LUX, London; ‘Closer to home than you could’ve ever imagined’ at Chalton Gallery, London; ‘Portal Atop a Bus Stop’ at
Contemporary Art Centre (CAC), Vilnius; ‘pontypool-txt-advntr-sim.net’ (with Gailė Pranckūnaitė) at Cosmos Carl – Platform Parasite; ‘“I” Statements’ at LUX, London; ‘Resting
Transmissions / Eyes Above, Bodies Below / Nice night for a walk’ at Ryder Projects, London; ‘Tell me about the ones who sleep through storms: Films and Videos from the Baltics’ at
Toronto International Film Festival’s Wavelengths Series; ‘Its origins are indeterminate’ at Whitechapel Gallery and Close-up Film Centre, London; ‘Resistance’ at Process Experimental
Film Festival, Riga; texts on Ben Burgis and Ksenia Pedan / Klara Lidén / Augustas Serapinas for Baltic Triennial 13: Give Up the Ghost Catalogue, CAC/CURA; ‘The Surface of the Sun’ at Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (EKKM), Tallinn; ‘The Hundred Programmes’ (on Steve Reinke) for 5th Anniversary Publication, Rupert, Vilnius; ‘Self Does Not Understand’ at
Cubitt, London; ‘Still There are Seeds to be Gathered, and Room in the Bag of Stars’ (co-curated with HÆRK) at Lofoten International Art Festival, Svolvær; ‘Not really now not any
more’ at Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo; ‘Almost No Memory’ at Baltic Analog Lab, Riga; ‘There was a Forest in the Ceiling’ at Rupert, Vilnius; ‘All Flesh is Grass’ at Kim? Contemporary Art Centre, Riga; and ‘Suggested for You’ (with Sandra Kosorotova) for History of Joy, Part 4.

The PAiR Residency open call program is supported by Nordic Culture Point.

Hildur Elísa Jónsdóttir is an artist and composer based in Reykjavík. She finished a soloist exam on classical clarinet from the Reykjavík Music College in 2015 and a Bachelor’s degree from the Fine Arts Department of The Iceland University of the Arts in 2019. After graduation she did an internship with Lina Lapelytė (Sun, Sea & Marina) in Vilnius, Lithuania. In her works she uses performance, installation and music to interrupt normative narrative and show her subjects in a new, and often comical, light.

Hildur Elísa’s works have been shown and performed widely, e.g. in Ásmundarsalur, Kjarvalsstaðir, Hof in Akureyri, and at Platform Nord (NO) and Ung Nordisk Musik in Tampere (FI). In 2020 she curated Primate Climate in Korpúlfsstaðir and has since been project manager of The Month of Visual Art 2020 and World Art Day 2021 (IS).

The PAiR Residency open call program is supported by Nordic Culture Point.

Marta Griģe has graduated from the painting department of Art Academy of Latvia (2021) and is currently continuing her studies in the Master’s programme.

Her current practice revolves around interest in contemplating different materials and materiality as such. Griģe brings her attention to noticing patterns in the nature. By analyzing scrupulously the details of her surroundings Marta tries to understand the structure and rules of reality and her place in it.

The PAiR Residency open call program is supported by Nordic Culture Point.