Slide
Daiga Grantina
MASSIMODECARLO Pièce Unique is very pleased to present Slide, by Paris-based Latvian artist Daiga Grantina. On this occasion, Grantina wrote a short poem to accompany her installation in the space.
A shadow can be freed
When any reflection becomes a forest
An entity as sound is
When I hold my head side ways
And the view rests in the midst.
A shadow can be freed
When mirrors become visible as pendulums
And any form is infinitely open, is an open clam.
A shadow can be freed
Because Antigone can carry the colors before dawn,
The colors before color itself
And wrap herself in these like a blanket
Of feathered futures.
A shadow can be freed,
Run around the beach
And write an autobiography.
Shadows sliding in and out of themselves.
-Daiga Grantina
The Artist
Daiga Grantina (b. 1985 in Saldus, Latvia), has firmly established herself as an avant-garde sculptor, reshaping the boundaries of artistic expression. Currently residing and working in Paris, France, Grantina’s journey is marked by an exploration of the interplay between materials and the resulting harmonies and dissonances that emerge. Grantina’s sculptures serve as a profound investigation into the nuanced encounters between materials, unlocking a world where dissonance and consonance engage in a mesmerising dance. Her oeuvre prompts an exercise in expanded vision, inviting viewers to reconsider their perceptions of form and substance. The artist’s material gestures echo the structural dynamics found within organisms and environments, deftly navigating the delicate relationships between volume and form. Positioned at the juncture where the microscopic converges with the macroscopic, Grantina’s work offers a visual terrain where boundaries blur and intersect.
Grantina’s artistic lexicon draws inspiration from both the human body and natural landscapes, serving as a gateway to explore the ineffable nature of matter. Through a plastic investigation of the formless and misshapen, her sculptures transcend conventional definitions. Intuitively concocted forms within her artistic realm possess the remarkable ability to self-consume and self-produce, representing a continuous evolution of shared ideas. The resulting space is one of tension, where the hierarchies of perception undergo a transformative rearrangement.
Grantina represented Latvia at the 2019 Venice Biennale with her solo presentation Saules Suns.