Dzelde Mierkalne

Dzelde Mierkalne is a multidisciplinary artist with a background in printmaking, based in Riga, Latvia. After finishing her BA in the Department of Graphic Art, she is now continuing her studies in the MA program POST at the Art Academy of Latvia. With great reverence for technique and process, Dzelde aims to overthrow technique-related artistic standards to create something new and find its place in today’s context. While reflecting on the existential fears of “world destruction”, mortality salience and death anxiety, she likes to play around with the syntheses of drawing and form, mixing prints, sculpture and objects. With the post-ironical view on today’s generation, in her works, she encodes references to the political space of today, mass psychology, eco-critique, pop culture and cartoons. Although the topics of her artistic practice are somewhat heavy, Dzelde strives to make them lighter, but still encourages you to wonder at what point the humorous exaggeration turns into reality, and perhaps eventually returns to the same thing.