Vineta Kaulača was born in 1971. She studied at Humboldt State University in California (1995–1996), Berlin University of the Arts (1999–2000) and the Art Academy of Latvia, from which she graduated in 2002.
Her work aims to illustrate the ambiguity and relativity of perception. She goes from the infinitely big to the infinitely small, dissecting the way we look at the world, building up an image of the whole from different parts and fragments, based on our emotional relationships with and intellectual experiences of any particular image. Time and distance play a fundamental role in her artistic investigations. Indeed, Kaulača assesses both time and space as dimensions that are themselves invisible, but can be determined by movement, changes and distance. In doing so, she applies her findings as a painter to other complementary mediums, such as drawing, photography, cinematography and installation art. Through these mediums, she better appreciates elusiveness and documents the trajectory of the observing eye, cast around, meeting the world.
She words her purpose as follows: ‘I am trying to capture a delicate in-between state, a border situation between remembering and an oblivion, indicating no chance to experience something for the second time – that lets us realise continuity, the nature of time which is pointed towards the future.’
Her recent exhibitions include: Overlays, Māksla XO gallery, Riga, Latvia (2018); Arte Laguna Prize finalists’ exhibition at the Arsenal of Venice, Venice, Italy (2017); Hyperrealism – Movement Manifestations in Latvia, curated by Dr Elita Ansone, ARSENĀLS exhibition hall in the Latvian National Museum of Art, Riga, Latvia (2017); Surface Memory solo exhibition, Māksla XO gallery, Riga, Latvia (2016); Failed Utopias, curated by Alex Veness, No. 4A gallery, Malvern, UK (2016); The London Intensive, Camden Arts Centre, London, UK (2015); Latvian Art Month, Abu Dhabi Art Hub and Jumeirah & Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (2015); Latvian Contemporary Art, European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium (2015); Transfers/56°56 ′51 ″N 24°6 ′23 ″E, Joy Art, 798 Art Zone, Beijing, China (2014); NordArt2013, juried exhibition, Kunstwerk Carlshütte, Büdelsdorf, Germany (2013); Fresh Latvian Painting, Tartu Art House, Tartu, Estonia (2012); Centre-Periphery, Palazzo delle Esposizione, Rome, Italy (2012).
Kaulača was nominated for the Purvītis Prize in 2013. She was also awarded the first prize of the juried Centre-Periphery competition organised by Federculture Italia. Among the numerous scholarships she has received are: Braziers International Artists Workshop and Arts Council England’s International Fellowship (UK); Abu Dhabi Art Hub artist residency (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates); The Irish Museum of Modern Art residency programme (Dublin, Ireland); Triangle Artists’ Workshop (New York, USA); Cité Internationale des Arts residency (Paris, France); RAID Projects artist residency (Los Angeles, USA).
