“Mind Maps and Crystal Reflections: Linda Vilka’s Solo Exhibition at Riga Mazākā Gallery”

Linda Vilka’s 400,000 crystal-covered mind map flashes a series of creative impulses, marking the switch between physical and mental viewpoints in different stages of fatigue. The distance covered can be measured in hundreds of kilometers measured by hand, moving each crystal from the container to the intended square millimeter on the surface of the cloth. Distance helps to crystallize thoughts. Zooming in allows you to focus on their detailed analysis. Combining a series of works, which the artist has given the label “conclusions of different sizes”, the exhibition serves as a revelation about the presence of fatigue as an integral part of life and recovery from it.

Linda Vilka (1995) is a multidisciplinary artist and storyteller, who received her art education in Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and is continuing her studies at the LMA professional doctorate. The artist works with memory, the importance of its fixation and attracting attention to rural areas. So far, the most significant projects have been created for the native side of Tārgale parish, where aspects of community art and environmental curation have been brought to increase the accessibility of contemporary art, as well as to demolish the usual rural routine. Linda Vilka presents her observations in installations, video works and performative actions in the public environment, weaving through all of this the textual form – abstract and sometimes quite absurd phrases and lines, which are most often recorded from the surrounding environment, people and lived situations.

Rīga Mazākā gallery is an experimental exhibition space created in 2019. Until now, it has been the smallest gallery in Riga in terms of square footage, located in the window of KK von Strick’s villa, and the exhibitions taking place there could only be viewed from Aristida Briāna Street. However, with the opening of Linda Vilka’s solo exhibition, the Riga Smaller Gallery has also experienced changes and for the first time visitors will have the opportunity to view the exhibition from the interior of the gallery. Meanwhile, the rest of the exhibition works will be on display in the villa’s large hall.

The exhibition will be open from April 22 to June 1. The showroom in the KK von Strick villa is open from Wednesday to Friday at 17.00-20.00, on Saturdays at 12.00-17.00.