Poppy 2

I am a middle generation Lithuanian artist. The generation that is the first one to be able to freely engage in creative work after long years of occupation and censorship. As an artist, I appreciate this very much. My worldview was formed during the years of the turning point, during the change of the system. When I think of myself in that period, I can't help but wonder how much idealism and belief in something good and bright there was at that time. I guess that's what brought naivety, romanticism, light, the search for pure colour into my paintings. I would describe myself as a representative of Romantic Surrealism. In my works I do not try to shock or frighten the viewer, but I try to transport the viewer to another reality, to create a dialogue with the viewers by artistic means.

My work is realistic, but I don't like to portray nature and things as they are. I transform them, I create a unique, artistic world where animals, nature and objects interact. The animals in my paintings are characters through which I communicate with the viewer. Usually the animal characters are looking at you, they want to say something, they speak with their eyes. Nature is also indirectly represented in my works, but transformed, adapted to a specific artistic idea. A transformed character, a recreated nature motif creates a surreal image, a surreal world. It's like an escape from reality by realistic means. It's like creating a dream when you're not sleeping.

The start of my working day is banally uninteresting. I just get up in the morning, have a coffee and go to the workshop, as I say, go to work. I never wait for some inspiration to take me to the easel. It's the other way around, at first I just stand in front of a blank canvas or a painting that I've started, and that's what gets me going, the desire to do something, to create something, and that's probably when the inspiration comes. I really like to paint to music. The music has to be calm, not loud, so that it doesn't interfere with the concentration on the painting. My studio is also full of papers that are thrown on the ground or lying neatly in a corner. It's an archive of ideas, which is very important so that you don't forget the idea that has popped into your head.

I often start a new painting without a title. It's just a visual idea. In the course of the work, I get to know the character that I am portraying. When I paint I often invent stories related to the painting, in other words I create not only an image on the canvas but also a small story. Often these stories are ironic or humorous.