Artwork

Margarita Frančeska Loze is a London-based multidisciplinary artist from Latvia. She predominantly works with sculpture, video and textile art, however, her most recent practice is centred around found objects, embroidery and hand-drawn stop motion. Loze’s poetic and delicate pieces are sustained meditations on “nostalgia, natural wonders and the rhythms of daily life”, obliquely referencing Latvian mythology and folklore. Margarita’s works have been widely exhibited in the UK and beyond. In 2022, Margarita was nominated for the Venice Fellowship Programme during which she had the opportunity to work alongside Sonia Boyce at the British Pavilion during the 59th Venice Biennale.

After earning a qualification in Textile Design from the Riga Design and Art School, Margarita relocated to London to pursue her artistic aspirations at the Wimbledon College of Arts, where she completed her BA (Hons) in Fine Art in Painting. “After a more ‘industrial’ practice in textile design, I completed a degree in extended painting. The course encouraged me to think beyond the easel and experiment with time-based media and drawing. Through combining video, writing, and drawing, I discovered different spatial and temporal dimensions and started to develop my artistic language” says Margarita of her practice.

Experimenting with cross-disciplinary approaches allowed Margarita to thoughtfully translate her perceptions of nature into multisensory sonic, visual and tangible forms. “I am fascinated by everyday life and ordinary routines, but most importantly, by nature. Discovering patterns, ornaments and colours on animals, passing through meadows, and observing atmospheric optics in the sky - such as nacreous clouds, the sunrise, sunset, and mirages - are all endless sources of inspiration for me” explains Margarita. Apart from nature, Latvian culture, pagan mythology, and ethnic symbolism marked Loze’s practice as well. Her hand-drawn animation pieces - such as Nacreous Dream - embrace visual tropes like the Sun, Stars, and equine figures, all of which are intrinsic to Baltic folklore. “To me, mythology is similar to art - it has always been present in my life, somewhat unconsciously. In Latvia, we celebrate the Sauna rituals with wild plants, the Summer Solstice, and treasure traditions such as The Dancing and Singing Festival, Easter and The Remembrance Day of the Dead. We look at the forest as a sacred entity, and with my work, I wish to cherish that'' she adds. Just like repurposing folklore symbols and her childhood memories, Margarita also recycles found and discarded objects to bestow them with new functions and meanings. By sewing onto these materials, she unspools the “associated bibliographies'' and narratives surrounding these objects, whilst threading new storylines around them.

Margarita is currently developing new work for her upcoming residency at The Muse Gallery, which will start in 2024 January. Alongside her individual practice, she is also part of an artist collective called Conch. The initiative combines theatre, visual art and sound, which offers a space for Margarita to experiment with time-based media and explore performance as an extension of her practice.