Art for the feelings that are hard to explain.
I paint the things people carry quietly — grief, tenderness, instinct, memory, becoming.
Art-is-Artis is a studio for emotional work. The paintings begin with a feeling, not with a subject.
Sometimes that feeling becomes flowers. Sometimes it becomes an animal, a dark room, a sky, a body, or a colour that refuses to stay quiet.
Originals are released when the right time has come. Commissions are rare, personal, and built around trust.
Art is — art exists.
Artis is — the artist exists.
Art simply exists through Artis.
Artis Berkmanis
Artis was born in Riga in 1980. His childhood and youth were spent between the city and the countryside — in the rhythm of Riga, close to nature, through travels and adventures beyond everyday routine. These experiences shaped his ability to observe, to sense his surroundings, and to notice change — both in the world around him and within people themselves.
Throughout his life, Artis has witnessed significant moments in Latvia’s history: the period of regaining independence, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Barricades, the rebirth of the state, as well as various periods of growth and crisis. Alongside personal transformations, these experiences have influenced his perception of fragility, resilience, belonging, hope, and the human capacity to change.
Creativity has been present in Artis’s life since childhood. He has drawn, carved, turned wood, modelled, and experimented with different materials, often creating handmade gifts for those close to him. Later, this creative expression continued through video and film projects, stage performances, music band, humour, poetry, and stories.
Painting entered Artis’s life in 2019, when, experimenting with acrylic paint on canvas, he created his first fully realised painting — a gift for a friend. Through this process, he realised that painting could become a way to make visible what cannot always be explained in words.
When he began painting, Artis made a promise to himself: to sell his first ten paintings at auction and donate the proceeds to charity — as his own payment for “school”, for learning and growth. Today, he has created nearly fifty works of art. Some have been gifted, some have been sold, one has travelled as far as the Philippines, and sixteen works have been donated to a charity exhibition and auction.
In Artis’s paintings, personal experience, memory, inner transformation, and the desire to give form to often unspoken feelings come together. His works are not merely images — they are attempts to see silence, vulnerability, hope, and transformation.
Tell me the feeling.
I take only a few commissions a year. If you know what needs to be felt, but not exactly what needs to be painted, write to me.
Start a commission