Photos by Brigita Kazlauskaitė
Hi, Vaiva, the first question is about graphics. How did you discover it? What is your favourite technique?
I am still searching. The term itself is quite broad and abstract. Sometimes I like to work with as traditional graphics techniques, and in other occasions I want to experiment and to mix different ways, to search for something unexpected and new. I have always been and still am fascinated by pieces done with etching and aquatic technique, although recently I mostly work with silkscreen and my own personal techniques.
I noticed a lot of cute animals in your prints. Why are they interesting to you?
Do I really image animals a lot? I haven’t noticed that till now. To tell you the truth, I don’t have a specific or an abstract image in my head before creating and just in the process of creating everything starts to form. Maybe then those animals unnoticebly come into the blank or half blank space.
What thing would you take for a journey into outer space?
A mobile phone and only because it would be useless there.
I noticed that sometimes you use notebook cutouts that are characteristic to the soviet times. How does the fact that you are living in a post-soviet environment affects you? Why do you wish to use such elements in art?
I don’t really know if that fact affects me in any way. Earlier I sort of used to try to run away from post-soviet symbols and similar routine images. I was probably sick of living surrounded by them during my childhood and now those things somehow started to fascinate me more and more.
Do you think about the audience whilst creating? What sort of person is he and how does he look like? Maybe it’s a nonexistent character?
I certainly don’t think about the audience whilst creating, unless the art piece would be dedicated to someone or purposefully created. The audience is a nonexistent character during the creative process until a certain moment. Only in the final process the piece itself searches for the viewer or lets to be discovered.
What trends do you see in contemporary graphics? Maybe there are some, which you don’t like?
I’m afraid that technique itself might become the main part of creativity in graphics. I think that the plot is as important as the technique. Another thing that can be a threat (in my opinion) to the traditional graphics is digital graphics. Sometimes it seems that, especially when artist is young, he chooses the easier and cleaner way of creation and don’t want to get their hands dirty by using etching, aquatic or silkscreen techniques. It would be a shame if these traditional graphics’ techniques would be forgotten.
Tell us what was the most enjoyable project to work with and why?
Couple of years ago I had the chance to do some volunteering in the south of France, near the Atlantic ocean and the Pyrenees, in a small resort town of Biarritz. My project was called “Promotion des jeunes artistes locaux” (“The presentation of local young artists”). Despite the fact that the name did no fully fit the reality, I had a lot of encouragement, enough space and a minimal financing for my various artistic goals and passions to express themselves when I was living those 10 moths there. That whole time span, the four seasons of the year, gave me a lot of wisdom not only as an artist but as a personality as well.
If you dear