Sigitas Petrauskas’s world of images is dynamic, constantly changing yet harmonious, sometimes symbolic. The painter, who began his creative journey in Norway, is today an active participant in the cultural field of Lithuania, presenting his works in a currently active virtual exhibition.
Early Steps
Petrauskas took an interest in painting in 2016 while living in Norway for some time. Long evenings in a foreign country drew his attention to children’s drawing pads seen on the table, prompting him to start painting himself. “When my family saw my first drawings, they told me to continue. I painted my first pictures for my godson and mother,” recalls the artist. He then bought a whole box of paints. Initially, it was challenging, but then inspiration came, and he would paint a picture a week.
Initially, art was like therapy, then it became a hobby, and today the Kaunas resident collaborates with several galleries (Paveikslai.lt, VšĮ “Gabrielė’s Art Gallery, VšĮ textile and painters guild gallery “White”).
Since his first exhibitions in Norway in 2019, S. Petrauskas surprised with his activity last year: he held eight exhibitions in Lithuania, participated in art plein airs and biennials.
“Now I not only organize my exhibitions but also actively visit other artists’ exhibitions and communicate a lot with them. Visiting other exhibitions, communicating with artists also inspires me to create,” says S. Petrauskas.
Key Questions
The artist draws inspiration from various sources, but the theme of cityscapes holds a special place in his work: the painter focuses on the rhythm and geometry of buildings, creating a stylized narrative of the cityscape.
The transformed imagery encompasses universal reflections on existence, flow, fate, and human existence in the world. It took the artist a while to find his theme and style, born while creating works of an abstract nature, minimizing and symbolizing depicted objects, refining the key idea and content of his works. Today, S. Petrauskas raises existential questions, depicting the object as a symbol – it can be a plant motif, an urban detail, or a mysterious woman’s portrait. Eventually, the transformed imagery encompasses universal reflections on existence, flow, fate, and human existence in the world.
The titles of the artist’s works are often philosophical and can be associated with the most important questions of fate and choice that arise for a person. In his rare portraits, S. Petrauskas codes aspects of fate, emotion, and mysticism – such is the work “Speaking with the Heart,” an extremely expressive and dynamic portrait of a woman with blindfolded eyes.
Expressive Reliefs
Asked about the most important directions in his creation, S. Petrauskas says he does not have a unified theme – a variety of themes prevail: he wants to touch everything that is relevant in the artistic and real world. Thus, in creating his works, the author focuses on precise execution, allows one to look into the object, a detail of nature, a portrait, but at the same time preserves a deeper subtext and meaning.
S. Petrauskas’s works are characterized by rough surfaces, often reminiscent of collage technique. In painting works, both expressive and subdued strokes are crucial, their nuance, the expression of forms and textures.
“In painting, I want to try everything, so my works are interested in still lifes, nature, mostly landscapes, fantastic motifs. It is most important for me to focus on the content of the painting work, the play of colors and shadows. I often paint trees, trying to catch the play of leaf shapes and colors. Stones and trees have their texture, which with its diversity, eternal change fills the composition of the painting,” says the creator. S. Petrauskas’s works can be seen here. It would be difficult to group them into cycles, but a distinctive feature of all works is decorativeness, which he achieves by using a special painting technology, creating relief forms.
“Technology was discovered to me by mother nature. She is an inexhaustible source, no matter what it is – mountains, forest or flat fields,” says the painter. “And we, people, have wonderful reliefs: even a small detail, wrinkles. It’s wonderful. Seeing exciting and inspiring details around me, I took up the spatula and plunged into creative work. In my painting narrative, it is important to highlight texture, relief, through this I draw my viewer’s attention to the detail, the aspect that interests me. I am glad that I can transfer all this to the canvas.
Read more: https://kauno.diena.lt/naujienos/laisvalaikis-ir-kultura/kultura/s-petrausko-kurybos-pasaulis-tarp-realistinio-ir-fantastinio-vaizdinio-1005313
