LV-1079

LV-1079 is my Final Major Project for finishing BA in Hand Embroidery from Royal School of Needlework. LV-1079 is the postcode of my home city and neighborhood in Riga, Latvia; the neighborhood Mežciems has been my home most of my life before going to study abroad to London. The meaning of home has been a theme I've explored before but the recent pandemic has escalated the need to identify with home and feeling at home, as that brought me to Mežciems. In the project I explore home, Latvia and politics, how Soviet regime has affected current Latvian society and how Soviet built housing shapes the current generations.

Minimalist and brutalist embroidery inspired by the research, metalwork embroidery in the meaning of putting Goldwork embroidery in juxtaposition of Hardware. Concepts of invisible, suspended embroidery within metal frames keeping the traditional “framed up” look even though frames usually are a temporary place for embroidery but in this case, it is permanent and is direct representation of the role that Soviet housing play in modern Latvian society. The designs and initial sampling were inspired by archive of photos taken in Mežciems of architecture and Soviet living remnants. Sampling with hardware, architecture models and material memories got translated in embroidery and later assembled in compositions, keeping the embroidery utilitarian whilst attaching pieces of hardware with traditional and non-traditional materials at the same time. This interpretation of my post-Soviet experience in Latvia is seen in this collection consisting of 5 artworks and extensive digital portfolio of visualizations and proposals furthering the concept above traditional embroidery.