Laima Bikše

Laima Bikše's painting is marked by a fragile, sensitive line and a nuanced, muted palette that at moments turns into a lush, saturated presence of colour. In the paintings colour builds up in layers — the surface is glazed, then wiped away or even scraped off, until in places the paint becomes so thin that the canvas itself is laid bare. Its coarse texture enters into dialogue with the fine drawing, making a tension between fragility and materiality.

Broad, almost empty fields often dominate her work, and in them the play of texture becomes the chief means of expression. Only a few objects appear in them — like quiet signs in a space, inviting the viewer to deliberate observation.

Birds, plush toys, fruit, flowerpots and small human figures lose their accustomed scale in Bikše's paintings. By deliberately altering proportion the artist opens the viewer a way into her poetic, emotional inner world, where the everyday becomes a personal symbol and a quiet mood becomes a story.

With paint on canvas — more rarely on a wooden surface — Laima Bikše builds the narrative of her inner world.