ABOUT GATIS

My work exists in the space between the surreal and the real—where the subconscious meets the everyday. As an artist and educator based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, originally from Latvia, I draw on a life shaped by movement and transformation. Having lived in over 40 places across Europe and the United States, my creative process is deeply informed by a shifting sense of identity, place, and memory.

I work across media, with no single material as primary. My practice includes drawing, painting, printmaking, and mixed media—ranging from pastel and acrylics to letterpress, linocuts, wood type, and natural materials. I’m drawn to raw surfaces like burlap, paper, and found objects, using them as vessels for dreamlike imagery that explores the convergence of body and landscape, figure and nature.

Themes of the body, migration, fleeting connection, and the fragility of ego weave through my work. Whether in unfinished portraits of strangers, intimate reflections on lived experience, or large-scale murals in public and private spaces, I create images that ask more than they answer—glimpses into the mystery of being and becoming.

I am a multidisciplinary artist and educator with roots in Latvia and a current practice based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. My background includes formal studies in fine art and printmaking, and over a decade of experience teaching and mentoring in both community and academic settings. My work has been exhibited across the U.S. and Europe, and includes solo and group shows, commissioned murals, and inclusion in private collections. I am passionate about analog processes—from letterpress and relief printing to hand-painted compositions—and my work continues to evolve through experimentation, collaboration, and deep observation of the natural and human worlds.

Started studying art at age 8 with Tamāra Ābele, learning classical drawing and painting, with occasional lessons from her father, the landscape artist Ēvalds Ābele, in Latvia.

MFA from Indiana University Bloomington