Līga Kitchen

Līga Kitchen (birth name – Palmbaha) was born on 22 April 1982 in Riga.

Her drawings are free, brave, joyful – like those of a child whose imagination and joy of creation have not yet been limited by taught techniques, assumptions imposed by life experience, regulations, or prejudice. In fact, both the markedly simple, clear structure of the compositions – achieved by focusing only on what matters most, – along with the choice of colour fields, lines, image characteristics, and interplay, results from natural talent that is continuously developed and refined each day. This helps maintain freshness. Often, the artist uses only a line. She draws it boldly, with a confident and free movement of the hand. She builds the character by drawing colourful lines side by side, resembling a neatly furrowed field ready for a new harvest. The lines are straight, uneven, curved, round – crafted to embody a meaningful message within uniquely stylised characters. These are commonly associated with nature and the environment. A wild animal, pet, bird, bug, human, or any living creature – along with trees, leaves, forests, flowers, meadows, mountain ranges, rivers, seas, clouds, buildings, and cities – is depicted in a minimalist style using only a few colours and lines. Yet, instead of expected abstraction, everything on the white sheet of paper is rendered realistically, adhering to botanical or zoological accuracy, making it recognisable and lively. A high degree of generalisation, yet rooted in reality and the essence of the tangible. Seemingly simple yet rich in content and figurative expression, these drawings are precise, capture the spectators' attention, and leave a lasting impression.

Līga Kitchen studied graphics and photography at Janis Rozentāls Riga Art Secondary School (1997–2001) and continued her studies in graphics at the Art Academy of Latvia (2001–2005), where she obtained a Bachelor's degree with a diploma project in easel graphics titled Old/Vecs , supervised by Juris Petraškevičs. In 2005, she moved to London. For several years (2005–2007), she worked as a curator at the Novas art gallery in London while also participating in the exhibition The Power and Point, showcasing large-scale graphics Old alongside Latvian graphic masters Ilmārs Blumbergs, Guntars Sietiņš, Juris Petraškevičs, and others. Later, at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design in London she completed an illustration art course (2010), where she thoroughly studied various types, styles, and techniques of illustration. As she admits, this experience has allowed her "to develop her visual language, learn to present her works to clients, discuss them, listen to and appropriately respond to criticism, understand what illustration is in general, its purposes and functions, and see how creative this field is and how many opportunities it offers".

Līga Kitchen continues to maintain close ties with Latvia and collaborates with book publishing houses in both Great Britain and Latvia (Jānis Roze, Jumava, Liels un Mazs) and magazines (Firewords Magazine, Benji Knewman, Where the Leaves Fall, IR Brīvdienas, Veto, and others). She is the founder and artistic director of a highly acclaimed children's magazine Pikolo, which has been issued since 2018. Cooperation is expanding with musicians, bands, and record companies by creating artistic designs for album covers, as well as concert costumes and stage setups, including collaborations with the English pianist and composer James Welburn, Andris Sējāns, the band Prāta vētra (Brainstorm), the foundation Viegli, MicRec, the band Knīpas un Knauķi, and others. The artist's drawings are sometimes used in fabric printing and clothing design for various companies and brands such as Hebe, Ezekids, Deeply Personal, and others.

She participated in the 2018 London Book Fair with a selection of Imants Ziedonis' poetry translated into English The 1001st Blackish-Blue Night, songs inspired by Imants Ziedonis (Tūkstošpirmā melnā, zilā nakts, Jumava, the foundation Viegli, 2017). She was awarded the 2nd Degree Order at the ADwards Creative Excellence Festival (Riga, 2011) for the artistic design of the foundation Viegli album Nepārtraukti, nenorimti.

The biography was prepared by Rūta Muižniece,
Master of Arts