MARTA VEINBERGA visual artist

YOUKALI
painting: prize stickers, adhesive film, tape on plywood, 152.5 x 152.5 cm
object: plexiglass, glue, paper, letter labels, 25 x 50 x 25 cm
2018

The central theme of the Youkali is desire – something that resides in human beings and at times manifests itself as various wishes. The title of the piece comes from a tango song about an island where all the desires are being fulfilled, however it turns out that this island does not exist, it is just a dream.

Veinberga’s Youkali consists of a painting and a transparent object – a capsule. The painting is made of supermarket prize stickers that point to the transience of our wishes, whereas the motive – an idealistic image of a dream hanging on the horizon – provokes to reveal the suspicion: perhaps the magnificent ship is just a toy wrapped in a bright ribbon.

The capsule, in turn, is a mental double of the painting: it contains concepts and references that helped to formulate the idea of the painting. Every time the capsule is shaken, its content reveals itself differently, offering a changing network of interpretation clues.