In the Islands of Experiences the author puts the emphasis on harmonies shaped by travelling the world art centres and creative symposia and the intersection between personal perceptions and the paradigms apparent in other cultures in the realm of artistic expression. This subject is based on the importance of unique sensations arising from experiencing diverse cultures. The artist is interested in the multifaceted nature of traditions in cultures other than her own that bring out the value of related personal aesthetic sensations.
Alongside older artwork, the exhibition contains recent works that interpret the experiences of bygone days from the present point of view. Parallel integration of older and recent works allows to trace a path through the artists creative journey and expose harmonies arising from experiencing the work from different points along the time axis.
Šipalytė borrowed and brought some of her works that were previously not shown in Lithuania from art collections in other countries. Next to them, you will find completely new, previously unseen works. Among these are the works for the Mark My Rothko series, which was launched during the symposium at the Mark Rothko Art Centre in Daugavpils. The symposium offered an extraordinary opportunity to paint live with pigments on my ceramic object in front of Mark Rothko’s original painting. This experience demonstrated the extent to which the quality of the artwork can be elevated by creating live next to the one of the most famous artworks of abstract expressionism.
The latest exhibition island is a series called Silicon Home created as a continuation of the work that won the main prize at the 6th Vilnius Biennial of Ceramic Art. Silicon is the base element of ceramics, both clay and glaze are composed of silicon compounds. Modern world is migrating towards virtual space using devices based on electronic components created with the same silicon. Complex silicon structures form homes for both our physical bodies and our virtual representations in the global framework.
Rūta Šipalytė graduated from the Ceramics Department at the Vilnius Academy of Arts with an MFA in 1998. Since 1994, the artist has participated in group exhibitions and international ceramics symposia in Lithuania, Latvia, Belgium, Croatia, The Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, Canada, USA, China, Taiwan and South Korea. She has also held twenty solo exhibitions in Lithuania and abroad. Since 1999, Šipalytė is a member of Lithuanian Artists’ Association. Since 2019 she is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics in Geneva, Switzerland.
Among her significant accomplishments in recent years are: Curated exhibition at Bornholm Art Museum in Gudhjem, Denmark; Finalist Prize at the 25th international Biennial of Contemporary Ceramics VALLAURIS 2019 at Musée Magneli, Musée de la Ceramique in France in 2019; Golden Pin by Lithuanian Artists’ Association for artistic achievements in 2020; 1st prize / prof. Liudvikas Strolis Prize at the 6th Vilnius ceramics biennial NEW / FRESH in Lithuania in 2020.
The show Islands of Experiences will be open until 10 December at gallery “Arka” (Aušros Vartų st., 7, Vilnius).
Exhibition designer Renata Valčik
Photography: Vėtrė Antanavičiūtė, Rūta Šipalytė
