Guntars Sietiņš - prints and biography

Guntars Sietiņš:
Master of Mezzotint and the Poetics of Reflection

Guntars Sietiņš (b. 1962, Kuldīga, Latvia) is widely regarded as one of today’s leading masters of mezzotint, a technique he has elevated to extraordinary expressive heights. His art is defined by a meticulous attention to detail, where hyper-realistic precision merges with surreal invention. Highly polished spheres, shifting reflections, and optical illusions often appear in his compositions, creating spaces where the boundaries of light, shadow, and form are pushed into poetic, dreamlike dimensions.

Sietiņš studied at the Riga Applied Art School before entering the Latvian Academy of Art, where he concentrated on graphic art and printmaking. By the late 1980s, his work was already being exhibited widely, and over the decades he has developed a reputation for innovation within a medium that demands discipline and patience.

In addition to his artistic career, he has played a major role in art education. Since 1999 he has led the Department of Graphic Art at the Latvian Academy of Art, and in 2004 he was named professor. Under his guidance, the program has become a hub for both technical excellence and creative experimentation, training new generations of printmakers.

Exhibitions of his work have taken place throughout Europe, North America, and Asia, with solo presentations in Latvia, Italy, and other countries highlighting different phases of his career. Series such as Squaring the Circle, Levitation, and Characters demonstrate his fascination with geometry, perception, and the dialogue between illusion and reality. His prints often combine mezzotint with aquatint to achieve subtle tonal transitions, rich blacks, and delicate atmospheres that reveal both control and mystery.

His contributions have been recognized internationally with numerous awards, including prizes at triennials and biennials devoted to printmaking in Europe and Asia. His works are held in more than a dozen major public collections, from national museums in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia to international institutions in Italy, Russia, Romania, and the United States. Private and corporate collections, including those in Latvia, also hold significant groups of his prints.

Through both his teaching and his art, Guntars Sietiņš continues to expand the possibilities of mezzotint. His prints remain striking examples of how technical mastery and imaginative vision can come together to transform perception, turning simple forms into timeless meditations on space and light.