Solo exhibition at the Alfred Van Loen Gallery in Huntington Station, NY
September 6th – October 8th
Reflections on the Sand
Lithuanian artist Rasa Valiene’s exhibition – the mythology of sand, rocks, wind and amber, which opens other, still unknown spaces, meanings and secrets that remain unsolved.
Rasa Valiene hails from Lithuania – a small country by the Baltic Sea.. A land, where the oldest living Indo-European language – Lithuanian is spoken. A nation, which has long been famous for the fearless warriors, castles and mythical love for nature. To many Lithuanians, a tree still does more than provide a shade; it personifies a person you can talk to, can seek healing from when ill. They feel the same respect for the sea, rocks, sand and wind. So it seems that Rasa Valiene, the artist whose name means nightly condensing, diamond-shimmering morning dew, may have inherited from her ancestors the ability to see
beyond what is evident, her mythical mirror, in which sand, rocks, wind and amber uncover their new faces and identity.
The exhibition presents a cycle of her works, started about five years ago: while walking along the Atlantic coast with her head down, oppressed by heavy thoughts, the artist was suddenly astounded by a marvelous artwork, impeccably designed by nature itself. Since then, Rasa started cautiously gazing, searching and discovering those secret graphics inscribed by wind and flood-water, graphics of a world, which we all suspect existing, but only few can recognize their signs and hints. The artist would “capture” in a photo the images that would resonate with a special harmony and perfection. Later they are printed onto canvas, so that the boundaries of photography would dissipate and the image would gain the essence of a graphic, acrylic or painting work- which is unmistakable when viewing the works.
Even while these works had successfully participated in exhibitions, the artist carried on and kept searching. She tried to record her own thoughts into those letters of the Universe. Thus her works are breathing with the specifically developed colors and distinctive symbols.
For example, the beloved by Lithuanians amber reminds to the artist the enjoyable walks on the Baltic seacoast of Lithuania, where it is still possible to find the pieces of amber discarded form the depths of the sea. On the other hand, amber itself, formed of tree raisin over millions of years, testifies about the fragility of the nature, significance of ecology, as the destruction of the forests will lead to the disappearance of amber.
Since her childhood fascinated by the water world (Rasa Valiene has grown by the river Nemunas, loved and glorified by Lithuanians, her father worked as a diver there) the artist prompts by her works: the way the sky is reflected in the water, the Universe can be reflected in the sand. You only need to learn to listen and you will start seeing and reading the secret characters of the Universe.