Marija Šnipaitė

At the exhibition “Retreat” Marija Šnipaitė is displaying her newest installations and drawings with the main theme – distance. Distance is the feature that helps us appreciate and revaluate our surroundings, as well as aspects and conditions of it. Drawing attention to mundane and insignificant everyday events, misplaced objects and memories creates scenic structures, which in the end become interferences of the mundane. The primary forms of the installations are independent, however, when placed next to each other they start creating networks and making connections. The roles of the objects and their materials are altered – what is thought to be heavy becomes light and rough becomes glossy. At this exhibition, the artist is not trying to create an imaginary plot anymore, with an absent character as in her previous works. The set of installations are creating a polyphonic field, a dream-like, irrational atmosphere, where the viewer falls into an inner peripheral state. The landscape created by the artist becomes a mental journey in a space where personal and collective experiences intertwine with nostalgia and melancholy.

Everyday rituals affect Marija Šnipaitė’s work. Such as literature, where the narrative is based on a network of chaotic associations and cinema, especially road movies where the landscape becomes one of the main protagonists. The creative process for the artist is constant movement within the search for associations and in-depth investigation of her surroundings. The artist’s work does not have a finished form, often certain elements can shift from one piece to another. This transition emphasizes the continuity of her creative process and a strong foundation of her practice.

Marija Šnipaitė is a young generation artist who graduated with a Master’s degree in sculpture at Vilnius Academy of Arts. She also studied at Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design in Germany. In 2016 became a member of the Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association, and in 2014 she received a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania. The artist participates in local and international exhibitions since 2011 one of which is “The beginning of the meeting” which was held in the former cinema “Lietuva” as well as art fair ArtVilnius and the international biennial “Unitekstas” in Kaunas.