In 2026, Limnos Land Art continues its evolving dialogue between contemporary art and landscape with a new site-specific project by Andris Eglītis. Developed through a period of research on the island, the project emerges from observations of the local flora and the human-made environment along the coast — from forms shaped by strong winds and seawater to the modest, practical structures created for shelter and survival.
This annual initiative transforms the island landscape into a living gallery, where each intervention speaks to place, ecology, and collective memory.
Installation days
On the idea behind “Straight Lines Bend Your Mind” | Interview with Andris Eglitis
The context of Limnos
When I was here on a research trip, I was reading the local context. This is a place of summer resorts, where people come to rest and unwind in nature. At the same time, I felt a very interesting relationship to nature — people come here to escape everyday life, to let nature take over their stress, and to experience its forces like wind and sea. But in winter, the landscape is harsh. It is wild. The plants and the terrain are shaped by strong natural forces. And alongside this wild nature, there are very simple human structures for shelter.
Straight lines, geometry, engineering, and calculations belong to the territory of our conscious actions.
I wanted to respond to what this place asks for. I wanted to create sculptures that activate the space in a spiritual way. Because these resorts are often about physical rest, but I felt there should also be an artistic presence that activates other dimensions.
Consciousness, form, and geometry
Nature shapes forms without thinking — through survival, genetics, and adaptation.
But when humans construct something, we operate through abstraction — straight lines, geometry, mathematics, calculation. This is our conscious territory, but it is often clumsier than the unconscious intelligence of nature. There is always this tension between natural processes and constructed logic.
Nature, architecture, and duality
I like this duality — that something is both natural and abstract at the same time.
A pine, for example, is an organic form that grows, and then becomes an abstract geometrical structure when translated into sculpture. The timber comes from my own farm in Latvia. I cut the trees there and bring the material here.
There is a history in this — materials travelling from one place to another, carrying their own geography.
Curatorial text
Situated at the intersection of sculpture, architecture, and ecological thinking, the project “Straight Lines Bend Your Mind” explores the possibility of reimagining the divide between humans and nature. Created specifically for the context of Limnos, Andris Eglītis’s installation examines the relationships between material, landscape, memory, and imagination.
The conceptual point of departure is philosopher Timothy Morton’s idea of the “symbiotic real,” according to which the human and the non-human exist in a state of continuous entanglement. It is within this space that Eglītis’s sculptures are situated.
The works simultaneously evoke architectural structures, geometric forms, plant organisms, and imaginary creatures. Constructed according to the logic of timber framing, they are liberated from architecture’s functional purpose and instead follow their own internal logic of growth and balance.
The landscape of Limnos is not merely a site of display but an active participant in the work itself. Shaped by winds, seasonal changes, and human presence, the island reveals the intersection of natural processes and cultural practices.
The wood used for the installation comes from trees felled on the artist’s farm in Latvia and transported to Limnos. In this way, each sculpture carries with it a different geography and history of growth. Processed using traditional local techniques, the wood remains open to the processes of aging, erosion, and transformation.
The title, “Straight Lines Bend Your Mind”, points to the tension between the organic and the abstract. The straight line becomes a symbol of humanity’s desire to structure a world that remains complex and deeply interconnected. Eglītis’s sculptures inhabit precisely this tension.
Rather than offering definitive answers, the project creates conditions for new ways of perception. The forms remain open to interpretation, inviting viewers into a space where the boundaries between the natural and the artificial, organism and structure, gradually dissolve.
– Elizabeth Aziz
About the artist
Andris Eglītis (b. 1981) lives and works in Riga and at the open-air art space Savvaļa. Since 2008, he has held more than twenty solo exhibitions and participated in over thirty significant group exhibitions in Latvia, Belgium, Lithuania, the United States, India, Germany, and other countries. Most recently, in 2024, the Latvian National Museum of Art organized his major solo exhibition Some Instances of Encounters between Imagination and Matter. In 2013, he received the Purvītis Prize, Latvia’s most prestigious visual arts award, for his Earthworks series. In 2015, Eglītis represented Latvia at the 56th Venice Art Biennale (with Armpit, together with Katrīna Neiburga).
Eglītis has also designed sets for theatre performances and operas, and has created commissioned paintings for the ceiling of the Festival Hall of the Latvian President’s Palace (2020) and for the iron curtain of the stage at the Latvian National Opera and Ballet (2023). In 2020, Eglītis and a group of like-minded collaborators founded the outdoor art space Savvaļa in his studio in the Drusti municipality, where he continues to serve as one of its organisers.
I wanted to make what I would call creatures — abstract forms that are not clearly defined as either natural shapes or architectural objects. I use the logic of wooden construction, but these are not functional buildings. They are not meant to serve a purpose in that sense. They are more like in nature — trees or plants that are beautifully designed, but exist only to survive and exist.
I like that they constantly raise the question: are they part of nature, architecture, or something in between? The title ‘Straight Lines Bend Your Mind’ is meant to trigger imagination. It is quite poetic and open — it raises questions rather than giving answers.
About the locatıon
Limnos Land Art unfolds within the Natura 2000 protected zone on the southeastern coast of Limnos, Greece—an area of exceptional ecological and geological significance. The site lies in front Keros Blue Hotel, a luxury seaside complex, uniquely situated between two expansive beaches along a 10-kilometer sand strip.
The surrounding landscape is defined by rolling dunes that reach deep into the island, creating a natural corridor between sea and land. Shaped by wind, salt, and shifting light, the terrain is in constant dialogue with the elements, making it an ideal setting for land art that evolves over time. The area is accessible by car and on foot, offering visitors an immersive experience where contemporary art and raw nature meet in harmony.
