Reinis Hofmanis — ISSP Gallery

Reinis Hofmanis: Telpa Nr. 13

2021 - ongoing

Papers: Size 60x70cm/ FOMEI Collection Baryta MONO 290gr. Size 13 x 18 cm/ UNIQUE silver emulsion prints on Universal-1 photo paper (Kiev factory of light sensitive materials “Foton”, Ukraine). Expired October 1991, processed 2021.

Solastalgia is not only about loss; it is also about the disruption of solace. The word itself fuses “solace”—the comfort once derived from a beloved place — with “algia” — the pain of its absence. When the land can no longer offer comfort, when the trees, rivers, or ice that once grounded us are diminished or gone, we are left with a profound sense of isolation and powerlessness. Yet, within this grief lies the possibility of connection and agency. A place where the photographic gesture becomes a means of “staying with the trouble,” of refusing to look away from the wounds in our environment.

A series of unique black-and-white silver emulsion prints in which the artist explores psychoterratic states — abstract, geographical spaces where the sensation of gradual disappearance becomes palpable. Much like a distant satellite, these works delineate the contours of their subject matter with a clarity limited only by the medium’s magnifying capabilities, revealing the subtle boundaries between presence and absence.