The success of my collection started when I first got in touch with Rudīte Losāne. She is the chaplain of the alternative resocialisation programme Mirjama at Iļģuciems Prison. I called her and told her my idea, I told her that I wanted to do a collection about women in prison who are mothers. She understood me immediately and went looking for a solution, because talking to women prisoners about how they can’t be with their children is not something that is very common. It took Rudīte a long time to convince the head of prison to talk about the idea. Why did Rudīte believe me right away? Because she offers various art-related activities to the women in her programme and she sees how the prisoners “blossom” by knitting, beading, painting, theatre. We both saw that art is therapy. I was lucky enough to meet her. At the first meeting, I met all 12 inmates of the programme, told them the idea and waited to see who would agree, who would be brave enough to trust me. Irēna, Kristīne, Madara, Sveta (Svetlana). Four women who agreed.
The photographer Iveta Gabaliņa and the writer Katrīna Gaile also took part in this collection. I approached these artists because I see sensuality and strength in their work. I saw that they would be able to enrich not only the image of the collection, but also the self-confidence of every woman with their vision and artistic touch. Iveta and Katrīna agreed and also joined us in the chapel one Wednesday.
Of course, I am neither a therapist nor a psychologist. How do I ask questions to get the right answer? I went with the goal of finding out what it is like to be a mother without a child by your side, how you can call yourself a mother if you are not with your child every day. How fragile these questions are, how easy it is to hurt with these questions, so I was looking for ways to ask them differently. After each meeting I came out confused, full of reflection, compassion. I heard much more, felt much more. The garments in the collection are more than just a reflection of the relationship between child and mother.
Meeting them is one big success.
