On January 17, at 18 p.m., the Vilnius City Gallery “Meno niša” presents the exhibition “Liquid Swords” by the young generation artist Paulina Domašauskaitė. Based on Japanese aesthetics, kire-tsuzuki concept, in her work the artist seeks to combine selected motifs and principles characteristic of Japanese aesthetics with individual painterly expression.
Paulina Domašauskaitė (b. 2000) is a young generation artist, currently studying for a master's degree in painting at the Vilnius Academy of Arts. Having received her bachelor's degree in painting in 2023, she actively participates in group exhibitions. "Liquid Swords" is the second solo exhibition of the young artist, curated by Linas Bliškevičius.
P. Domašauskaitė is inspired by Japanese cultural traditions, which she transforms by combining the aesthetics of the past with contemporary art forms. This gives her works contrasts and balance between strict forms and free interpretation, inviting the viewer to reflect on themes of separation and integration. In addition to painting, the artist creates interdisciplinary works, seeking to further explore themes and give them a multi-layered visual fulfillment.
Paulina's work explores the plane of painting, scratches, layers and colors that reveal the dynamism of the act of painting. Her works combine clear silhouettes and chaotic strokes, inviting reflection on painting as a process.
According to P. Domašauskaitė, Japanese culture, with its aesthetic simplicity and philosophical depth, began to fascinate her during her undergraduate studies and became a natural source of inspiration in her work. “A deeper interest arose after seeing woodcuts from the Edo period (1603 to 1867), in which my eye was caught by mythological plots that subtly reflected the lifestyle or problems of that time,” the young artist said about the influence of Japanese culture on her work.
Exhibition curator Linas Bliškevičius:
The title of the exhibition “Liquid Swords” (Lithuanian translation “Takieji kardai”) refers to Paulina’s creative method, which consists of two oxymoronic elements. It reveals the artist’s creative method, based on fluid or free movement in local and global contexts. By combining historical contexts of Japanese studies, stylizing them, the artist creates connections with the lines, sharp and strict forms, plots and their negation of the art traditions of early abstract expressionism.
The motifs appearing in the works presented in the exhibition are cut out of their temporal or local contexts, but the author does not rely on decontextualization, but on the method used in the Japanese aesthetic tradition. kire-tsuzuki (lit. cut off continuity) concept. Kire-tsuzuki can define a certain act of interruption, interruption, cutting, during which a transformation of the original form is created - by extracting historical, cultural forms from their natural environment, the artist creates new ways of interpreting them through the eyes of today, without trying to implement them as references or cultural artifacts, but to recompose all this into wholes with new properties.
By breaking with previous connotations and interpretations, P. Domašauskaitė performs a symbolic act of their destruction, which at the same time ensures new forms of their existence. The juxtaposition of various sources, modes of expression, colors, textures and contents reflects the changing cultural boundaries in contemporary art and highlights the inseparable interactions of separation and integration. This allows us to reflect on the multilayered sources of knowledge that shape today's culture.
Paulina Domašauskaitė's exhibition "Liquid Swords" will be on display at Vilnius City Gallery "Meno Niša" until February 8. This exhibition is part of the gallery's program "Art Space for Young Artists" project "Open Call". The exhibition is financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture, a sponsor of the gallery "Meno Niša" - Vilnius city municipality.
