Evija Laivina (1978) was born in Latvia. Laivina studied Contemporary Art and Contextualised Practice at the University of Highlands and Islands and graduated in 2019 with BA Hons first class degree. Her photography has been recognized by LensCulture 2018 Portrait Award for her project Beauty Warriors and was nominated for Henri Nannen Award in Germany in 2019.
Laivina is a photographer and visual artist. Her practice focuses on identity, mental health, beauty, body image, and social media. She lives in Inverness and works at her studio at Inverness Creative Academy.
CV
Education:
2020-2021 ISSP ( International Summer School of Photography) mentoring program
2017- 2019 Contemporary Art and Contextualised Practice BA(Hons)
2016- 2017 Contemporary Art Practice HND
2014-2015 NC Art and Design
Residencies:
2022 October-2023 May Highland Culture Collective, Fèis Rois
2021 July- 2022 September Highland Culture Collective, Highland Print Studio
Solo Exhibitions:
2.04-26.04.2024 Silver Stories, Eden Court, Inverness
5.09- 25.09. 2023 Living With SMART, Inverness Botanic Gardens
5.07- 8.07. 2023 Living With SMART, Unit 8, Telford Street Retail Park, Carsgate Road, Inverness, Circus Artspace
June 2023 Be F**ing Perfect, collaboration with EXCEL project, Picote, Portugal
12.01.- 12.02 2022 'Barbara' XOKO Inverness
10.09.2019-30.09.2019 ‘Women With Flowers’, Nairn Book and Arts festival.
26.05.2009-15.06.2009 ‘Dzīves karnevāls’ (‘The Carnival of Life’) solo exhibition, Café Gourmand, Cesis, Latvia
Group Exhibitions:
2023. 16.- 18.06 Family In Migration, ART 27 Scotland group exhibition led by artist Laleh Sherkat
2022. 15.09.-15.10 Be F**ing Perfect, Collaboration with Chiara Pussetti, EXCEL project. Gallery Oriq, Lisbon, Portugal
2022. 02. 22- 26.02 :’-) ? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ;) :| :’D -_- ;)) Emoji, Circus Artspace, Inverness Creative Academy
2021. 6- 30. September 'Ode to Oikos' Flow Festival & Nairn Community and Arts Centre (Co-curated with photographer Hannah Laycock)
2021. March -September ‘Highland Creatives’ Inverness Airport, organised by Wasps and UHI with photo project ‘The Hoarder’
2020. 10- 20.12 ‘Supermarket’, Inverness Victorian Market
2020. July- August ‘Looking Out’ Virtual group exhibition on Kunstmatrix, part of Birdhouse Collective.
2019 12.07- 31.08 Benidorm Expone ‘La Vida Es Sueño’ (‘The Life is a Dream’), Benidorm, Spain.
2019 4.07- 13.07 ‘Parade’ Circus Artspace, Inverness Creative Academy
2019. 11.05 18.05. RISE, Inverness Museum and art Gallery
2019. 12.02.-23.02. Beamer 4, Uist Taigh Cheasabhaghf
2019. 9.11. - 11.11. ‘Some Things Leave a Lasting Scar’ The Birdhouse Collective, Forres
2018. 29.09. The Birdhouse Collective Pop up photography exhibition, Forres
2018. 05.06-26.06 Lonely Art Club members open exhibition, Inverness UHI
2018. 27.05-30.09. Ist gut nicht gut genug? The Vögele Kultur Zentrum, Pfäffikon, Switzerland
2018. 23.05- 1.06. TBC creative exhibition, Inverness UHI
2017. 2.09-30.09. Eden Court, Inverness, FLOW PHOTOFEST 2017
2017. 7.06.17- 10.06. Inverness Museum & Art Gallery ‘Lonely Arts Exhibition’
2017. 29.05. Inverness College UHI End of the year exhibition ‘Subversion’
2016. 3.05. – 5.05. ‘Connections’ Art & Design Exhibition hosted by Dicksons of Inverness
2014 November 8, 2014- February 1, 2015 ‘The CD Collection” at Inchmore Gallery, Inverness
2009. 22.10.08- 3.01. ‘Tiko Precējušies’ (‘Just Married’) wedding photography group exhibition Cesis, Latvia
2009. 1.02 – 15.02. Fotobiedrība Salacgrīva ‘Meklējam Ziemu’ (Salacgriva’s Photographers Association, ‘Looking for Winter’) group exhibition, Salacgriva Community Centre, Latvia
Awards:
2020 VACMA Scotland ( Visual Arts and Crafts Award) 2020 (winner)
2019 Henri Nannen Award 2019 Nomination in Art Photography category (nomination)
2017 LensCulture Portrait Awards 2017, Student Spotlight (Winner)
Press (selection)
‘Inverness Courier’ May, 17th 2019 ’Students RISE to the occasion as their work goes on show’ pg 6
‘Highland News’ May 2017, ‘International acclaim for art student’ pg 19
Süddeutche Zeitung Magazin Nr. 10, 2018 ‘Bin Ich Shön?” cover image, 6 pages, text Lara Fritze
Vogele Kultur Bulletin, Ausgabe 105, throughout the issue, interview, and images.
NRC Handlesbad (Netherlands) 22.May, 2017, First page
Fisheye Magazine, N29, 2017, France and China issue ‘Corps Modeles’, text Carole Coen
Publications
Pussetti, C. , Lavina, E. e Manfredi, F. “Beauty Warriors”: histórias de resistência entre antropologia e arte. In Sarrouy, A., Simõe, J. e Campos, R. (Eds.), A arte de construir cidadania: juventude, práticas criativas e ativismo. Tinta-da-China, pp. 59-90 ISBN 978-989-671-697-4
‘Superbia, Im Labyrinth des Hochmutes und der Eitelkeit’ 2020, Rhein- Kreis Neuss, Kulturzentrum Sinsteden and die Autoren ISBN 978-3-9815745-9-3
Remaking the Human: Cosmetic Technologies of Body Repair, Reshaping, and Replacement: 2 (Politics of Repair, 2), Alvaro Jarrin, Chiara Pussetti, 2021, April Berghahn Books ISBN-10: 1800730314