Latvian Artist Arta Raituma Displays Fire-Painted Artworks in First Indian Solo Exhibition in Fort Kochi
Latvian artist Arta Raituma is presenting her first solo exhibition in India, titled Dark Flame Streams Bright, at the Kashi Art Gallery in Fort Kochi. The exhibition showcases her unique artistic approach of using fire as a primary medium to create intricate landscape portraits and forms in shades of brown, sepia, grey, and black. Running through November 30, the show features works produced between 2021 and 2026 across Portugal, Latvia, and Kochi.
Among the prominent pieces on display is Memory Sea, a large-scale painting featuring a grey convex curve positioned above a deep brownish-black rectangle. Raituma created the piece while in Portugal as an ode to the Baltic sea, where she spent her childhood. She explained that the work reflects her memories of the sea's dark green and brown waters, capturing a combination of fear and awe associated with the vast landscape.
Techniques and Cultural Roots
Raituma's transition to fire began as a departure from her standard oil painting practice. Over the past five years, she developed individual techniques, initially combining fire with oil paint before shifting to creating entire canvases using flames. Her connection to fire stems in part from Baltic indigenous traditions and folklore, where summer solstice bonfires, the sun, and fire serve as central symbols of a connection with nature.
Her physical process relies on burning wooden surfaces, primarily plywood, using flammable or heat-conveying tools such as matches, candles, or pyrography instruments. This technique yields a variety of textures, relief-like details, and subtle tones ranging from grey to brown. Raituma works in layers by glazing with flames, a process that requires embracing unpredictability since marks made by fire cannot be erased.
Artistic Background and Kochi Exhibition
Raituma earned her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in painting from the Art Academy of Latvia, graduating in 2021, and also completed studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice. Her practice encompasses creative placemaking, community engagement, and exploring interactions between natural and urban environments. In addition to wood burning, she integrates painting, organic materials, photography, and performance into her installations.
Raituma previously participated in the Kochi-Muziris Biennale’s ABC Art Room in 2026. Her art is included in public and private collections across Europe, the United States, Turkey, and India. Having relocated to Kochi following her marriage to cinematographer Prem Jyothis, Raituma created some of the exhibition's larger works locally, connecting pieces created in Europe with the coastal history of Fort Kochi.
