7 Chickpeas

Originally from Kaunas, Lithuania, Aušra Kleizaitė (b. 1972) is a contemporary visual artist, working in the field of drawing, textile, installation, and sculpture. Initially, trained as a printmaker and textile artist, she creates expressive works on paper that explore the intersections of Western and Eastern aesthetics and cultures. Sometimes, these drawings grow into three-dimensional objects and can become part of installations. Between 2002 – 2018 Aušra has been living and working between the Baroque capital and largest city in Lithuania – Vilnius and the mysterious overgrown jungles of India. In 2013 Aušra visited Odisha, a state of India that descended from the historical kingdom of Kalinga, and fell in love with its cultural richness. The yearly travel between Lithuania and India provides Aušra with new perspectives on human experience, culture, relationships and everyday life. Her body of work reflects Aušra’s interest in human condition and various states of being: spiritual and social. Her creative process is based on principles – idea, light, story, aesthetic, and emotion. Aušra uses simple materials, such as paper, charcoal, pastel – to tell complex stories. Her artistic practice is an endless process of exploration in the drawing’s ability to express and reflect a full range of ideas and emotions: war and peace, death and life, hate and love, failure and belief.

Aušra Kleizaitė has organised solo shows as well as actively participated in many group exhibitions in Lithuania and abroad, including Latvia, Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Ukraine, Georgia and India. In 2004 among other young artists from various countries Aušra was awarded the UNESCO-Aschberg Fellowship and in the same year she was awarded “The Best Art Work of The Year 2003” (Kaunas Picture Gallery, Kaunas, Lithuania) for her object “The Art of Being a Girl”. A number of Aušra’s works are in private collections worldwide.

" ... as far as I can remember myself - I always loved drawing ... later I also fell in love with embroidery ... "