I have been painting since teenage years, but have not thought of myself as a visual artist until I turned 30. I had my first child then and decided to challenge myself even more by adding art school to the schedule. At school, I met Robert Spellman and Joan Anderson whom I consider my first art teachers. They invited me to experience how mindfulness and meditation can affect creative process, an invaluable lesson I still refer to on a daily basis. Students learned how to appreciate rather than judge, listen before talking and practice tolerance for their own mistakes.
Later on, I discovered Nick Bantock whose books helped me discover the connection between my obsession with the written word and the fascination with the visual world. I realized there is no valid reason why I must choose between one or the other, and am now in the midst of writing a book of legends based on the Plant Spirit Paintings (featured on the home page).
My paintings seem to emerge from my childhood and the experiences I had growing up in Lithuania, a small country on the southeastern edge of the Baltic Sea. I remember our black and white TV, gray skies, peeling stucco buildings and long spells of rain in the summer. I remember brown wool school uniforms we had to iron every other day, mandatory parades and Soviet movies about World War II. Those of us that longed for color and sunshine sketched, listened to The Beatles and sewed or crocheted clothes.
I had my curtains drawn most of my childhood, reading fairy tales in dim light. There was a very clear distinction between the “inside” and the “outside”. In our homes we were warm and safe, protected from the chilly monochromatic world outside. We obsessed with the past (the times before the war) and dreamed of the future without propaganda. There was longing for escape and conflicting feelings of love for one’s country and hating the regime at the same time. When outside, my friends and I made sure to avoid the new sections of the city-cookie cutter blocks of flats and rows of buses-and instead, roam in the old part of town from the mid-13th century. The textures in the walls of my medieval home city of Vilnius fascinated me. I used to meander down narrow cobble stone streets, from courtyard to courtyard, peeking in churches, sometimes unable to resist the temptation to open creaky gates to see old ladies hang clothes on a rope and little boys play with rocks on mossy pavements.
I believe that when we make honest marks, whether it’s on paper or canvas, in stone or clay, we map the present moment. Art can be a tool for self-inquiry. Painting helps me bridge the distance between where I was before and where I am now, geographically, physically, spiritually. Making peace with what is can be an indispensable first step in moving forward. Whenever that is transmitted to the rest of the world, there is healing.
I grew up surrounded by images by Albrecht Durer, Hieronymus Bosch, Van Gogh, Gustav Klimt, Lithuanian symbolist painter Ciurlionis, Salvador Dali and iconographic images of the Lithuanian primitive wooden sculpture and sacral art. My techniques are constantly changing, but they often include collage, gold leaf, calligraphy and most recently, simply oil on canvas. It’s a thrill to see paintings emerge out of the white space, effortlessly, as if I was only an observer. To facilitate this process, I typically start with the essence of the painting without thinking of the final result, only relying on the predominant sensation or intuition and letting the alchemy of mixing paint take over. My paintings take a long time to complete, as I use multiple layers and numerous reductionist steps to arrive at my destination.
EDUCATION
MA Connecticut State University | English & American Literature
BA Vilnius University | English Language & Humanities | Minor in German
BA Visual Arts | Naropa University, Boulder, Colorado
AD Graphic Arts | Colorado Institute of Art | Denver, Colorado
E X H I B I T S
CURRENT: Firehouse Art Center, Longmont, CO | May 11-June 13, 2012
PAST: Christine Marguerite Gallery, Boulder, CO | September – October 2011
ONGOING: Creative Framing & Gallery, 916 Main Street, Louisville, CO
East Boulder County Artists OPEN STUDIOS May 2012
East Boulder County Artists OPEN STUDIOS April -May 2011
Rabid Rabits Galeria, Longmont, CO, October 2010
Bittersweet Gallery, Louisville, CO ongoing exhibits
Open Studios, East Boulder County Artists, May 2010
Lafayette Public Library Open Studios Preview Show, May 2010
First Congregational Church, Longmont, Solo Exhibit, December 2009
Mountain Angels, solo exhibit, The Art Underground, Louisville, CO, October 2009
The Boulder Haiti Project, Group show, Boulder, CO February 2009
Two Potters & Friends, group show, Lafayette, CO November 2009
Namaqua Center Auction, Loveland, CO September 2009
Anthony Grant Studio Gallery, group show, January 2010, Louisville, CO
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, group show, January 2010
Studio Monika grand opening solo show, May 1, 2010
Center for ReSource Conservation Live Auction Gala/St. Julien, Boulder, May 2009
Mercy Housing Auction, Chicago IL March 2008
PRESS
http://www.westword.com/slideshow/fashions-night-out-in-boulder-35113647/48/
Colorado Home Town
http://www.coloradohometownweekly.com/news/louisville/ci_19039730
Colorado Home Town
http://www.coloradohometownweekly.com/news-story-lafayette.asp?ID=5666
Daily Camera
http://www.dailycamera.com/louisville-news/ci_16503734
KGNU Radio Interview, East Boulder County Artists, April 2010
Bombay Gin Magazine Vol 25 | July 1999
Naropa University Alumni Magazine
COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS
Mercy Housing Gala & Auction, private collection of Dan Mudd/Fanny May, Chicago
Azantis Corporation, Boulder
RESIDENCIES, WORKSHOPS, RETREATS
Delivered in Twilight, Nick Bantock, Spain | May 2010
Collage Workshop, Nick Bantock, Salt Spring Island, BC | April 2009
In Town Retreat, Joan Anderson, Boulder, CO | July 2008