SPINE & WALLS
Spine
H1520 x W650 x D600
Indestructibility. Nothing in this world holds together constructively if there is no Humanism with love, tolerance, respect, and harmony at the bottom, base, and foundations. Humanism is the basis of constructivism. Constructive is the opposite of destructive, which is brutalism, vandalism, destruction. The structure formed by the joined hands of different generations are the antennae of the soul, they are connected to the heart. Vertically, they form the backbone of humanity. The fine, linked unbreakable connections of the windows of the soul, the nerve of the spine both in the structure of the common world and for every house. A tribute to Mriupole. The unbreakable energy of the soul is the most constructive and positive foundation for life.
Spine
The invincibles.
IZTAISNO MUGURU
"IZTAISNO MUGURU"
– The Spine of the Soul
Everyone must find their own personal coordinate system, their own ten commandments. A prayer for humanism, peace, and humanity. Roots and sky. A core in the middle. A tribute to the Ukrainian will to resist.
The hands of men, women, and children are joined together in prayer for humanism, peace, and humanity. At the same time, the interwoven hands form a strong, link-by-link spine, holding together, providing support, strength, and emphasizing a shared goal and effort.
The spine’s elder—the father and mother, the guardian and defender of our homeland—stands below, while generations rise above, from 83 to 3 years old. At the very top—symbolizing the future—there is life, represented by the hands of a child and a young woman.
The artwork "IZTAISNO MUGURU!" (Straighten Your Back!) is part of the Walls and Backs series and is on display at the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Riga until May 2025 as part of the Baltic contemporary glass exhibition "Layers."
PROCESS
A PLACE FOR THE LIGHT
Our hands are the antennas of the soul.
They are connected to the heart.
While, just across the border, homes and lives have been brutally destroyed for the fourth year,
we are called to reflect on the strength of those who endure.
In dark times, light—and those who carry it—becomes visible.
This is a prayer for humanism, for peace, for our shared humanity.
Our will is our sky.
There is only one true law: the law of conscience.
Roots and sky.
Common sense.
Personal responsibility in every moment of life.
Not each one only for themselves, but each of us thinking of all of us.
The wound is the place where the light enters.
Evi
The sculptor Evī Upeniece’s hands like a river
Family
Yuriy Pernatiy – the hand of a Ukrainian soldier after battle.
He voluntarily joined the ranks of Ukraine’s defenders in the first days of the war and has been repeatedly awarded. He was wounded in combat.
Currently, his wife and three children have found refuge in Latvia.
