Contemporary Glass Art Exhibition “Signs of God”

The exhibition “Signs of God” unites the integral nature of two artists, a poetic visual narrative, and a sacred semiotic interplay.

The symbiosis of Latvian Academy of Art (LAA) Professor Vineta Groza and her student Valdis Putniņš in this joint exhibition emphasizes the significance of light in spiritual and physical processes, creating visual metaphors in glass. The exhibition of artworks prompts reflection on the permanence of values, the opportunity to choose direction, speed, and purpose. In creating, interpreting, and producing, the artists utilize the properties of glass: durability, light transmission, plasticity, fragility, sharpness, functionalism.

The exhibition “Signs of God” encourages viewers to perceive the delicate lines of existence, visualizes the scope of spirituality within the infinity of “space,” fosters a sense of strength in the deepest recesses of the subconscious, activates the Latvian ancestral code of belonging, transforms the perception of time into a fluid dimension of creation, associatively reflects symbols, and illuminates the primordial origins of creation through the interaction of two organisms.

The works exhibited in the exhibition were selected, with the artists drawing inspiration from the tectonics of Ogre’s Blue Hills and the historical heritage of the Ogre region, creating a vision for aspects of future hope.

Vineta Groza

“Nature holds immeasurable significance in my art and in my life. It is the best teacher and advisor. I am interested in natural forms that maintain their system, status, and resonate with Latvian folk tradition — solar symbolism, swastikas, signs that affirm the power of nature. Glass is an excellent material for realizing my egoistic self-expression and aesthetic subjectivity. It is an outlet for my energy, an exit and a return. The properties of glass have always enchanted me — its plasticity, colorfulness, and transparency, a sense of playfulness and diversity. Much is determined by desire and emotionality. Every person has their own silhouette, their own texture. My imprints of thought in glass are textures and silhouettes that carry my identity into the world.” — Vineta Groza.

Head of the LMA Visual Plastic Arts Department, Professor since 2023. LMA MA degree (1999) in Glass Art. Theoretical work “Materials in Latvian Secular Architecture — History of Stained Glass. Development of Stained Glass Types in Latvian Secular Architecture”, MA thesis supervisor Dr. habil. art. Prof. O. Spārītis. Prague Institute of Applied Arts (1997), studied under Prof. V. Kopecka. LMA Department of Applied Decorative Arts (1990—1995). Member of the Glass and Art Study Center since 1998, member of the Artists’ Union of Latvia since 2008. Regular participation in glass art exhibitions in Latvia and abroad since 1993 — in Denmark, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, France, Finland. Solo exhibition “Classical Glass” (2012) at the Riihimäki Glass Museum in Finland.

Valdis Putniņš

“Glass art… integrating contemporary and conceptual spirit into glass, depicting the play of light on glass surfaces in both fused works and stained glass. Sculptural reflections in glass tectonics, often integrating text and photography, thereby reproducing one’s own facial and body lines. Themes include models of the relationship between life and death, religious undertones, and paranormal phenomena of sexuality. The coexistence of glass, textile, concrete, metal, photography, and dyes in various installation formats is fascinating,” says Valdis Putniņš, who has been studying in the glass department of the Visual Plastic Arts Department at the Latvian Academy of Art since 2021. 2022. He graduated from the ISSP contemporary photography school. He regularly participates in various group exhibitions in glass art, contemporary photography, and conceptual painting both in Latvia and abroad. His photographic works have been published in Foto Kvartāls’ “Latvian Photography” in 2021 and 2022. More info: @waldis_putnins