The Land of Happiness
Video, 12:24 min, 2008
Since moving to Riga, my home has been in eight different places. It begins with finding the place. This is followed by reclamation of the space – dusting and sweeping up the waste of previous owners, introducing my own order and belongings. And then it is my home until I pack my things and leave it for a new one. The land of happiness is the place we are looking for until we find it/ don’t find it - or maybe we create it ourselves. (D.Dž.)
Artist's Bio:
Dace Džeriņa is an artist and theatrical set designer, and she has been participating in exhibitions since 1998. Džeriņa graduated from the Liepaja Applied Art School and the Department of Visual Communications of the Art Academy of Latvia. Her work may be characterized as feminine (yet not feministic) observations of things and processes with an integrated fragile emotionality and a distanced reflection. One of the themes of her work invites the viewer to enjoy and consume art: the processuality, engagement of the viewer, social quality and joy of life in these works activate elements of play and interactivity, which allow the viewer not only to observe the art, but also to use it. Another characteristic motif of Džeriņa’s works is focusing on an introverted perception through concrete physical states in the bodily reactions of the artist herself. Džeriņa’s most recent works depict the orientation of perception towards observation and the formation of order, structure and sequence, including an indefinable, yet all-encompassing balance of fragility and imperturbability. (I.A.)