From June 5 until June 29 during Riga Pride month visitors are welcome to gallery MASA for the artist’s Sintija Ukše aka Siins first solo illustration exhibition ‘’MONSTER GIRLS’’.
The variety seen in Siins’ artworks showcase visual depiction of queer diversity in illustration as a genre that not only allows for - but anticipates - trans-corporeal forms, more or less direct metaphors, and the creative imagining and construction of one’s own world and its inhabitants. Illustration as an artistic method can be used to continue the repetition of non-inclusive standards that are familiar to viewers and thus reinforce their cemented status in pop culture. The proudly mischievous ‘‘MONSTER GIRLS’’ character community created by Siins defies and rejects such a boring binary world. Instead they invite to peek into the joys of black latex and leather, recognizable to patrons of the Baltic queer rave scene.
The black and white characters’ parted eyes glimmer with bodily knowledge of their own turbulence. Among them are mermaids, who in one cultural setting have been transformed from cunning sirens into capitalist-friendly singing beauties, all the while being known in queer narratives as a positive example of alternative bodily freedom. Characters from the depths of Siins’ inner world caress themselves in their own borderless world and carry with them the practice of portraying queer characters as villains. Mischievous play with and among the monstrous can be taken back as an empowering method against homonormativity, as did the Vilnius Queer Film Festival “Kreives” with its 2024 theme, which also marks the activist movement surrounding Siins. The exhibition extends its call to saturate our sociopolitical reality with the freedom to defy a cleansed narrative, and to embrace the power of queer monsters.
Sintija Ukše, also known as Siins, is a Latvian visual artist. They are most interested in illustration and character design, focusing on abstract stylization and unusual shapes. Siins finds inspiration in horror media, as well as 80s and 90s character illustrations and aesthetics. They enjoy drawing people and monsters the most and exploring character relationships between them. They have been tabling at Baltic and Nordic popculture convention artist alleys since 2019, and have been freelancing online for over a decade.
Curator: Mētra Saberova
Exhibition is a part of the Riga Pride program.
