Audronė Petrašiūnaitė is one of the most prominent Lithuanian painters of the middle generation. In 1982, she graduated from the Lithuanian Art Institute (teacher Prof. V. Karatajus). She developed her pedagogical career at the Kaunas S. Žukas Applied Art Technical School, Kaunas J. Naujalis Secondary Art School, and the Kaunas Faculty of the Vilnius Academy of Arts, where she worked as an associate professor. For her creative work, she has been awarded the Lithuanian Government Prize for Culture and Arts and other significant awards. The artist’s works are held in the Lithuanian National Museum of Art, the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, the MO Museum, and other collections.
Her artistic work has been influenced by the French artists’ group “Nabis” (late 19th – early 20th century), as well as Lithuanian painters Viktoras Vizgirda and Adolfas Valeška. In her early work, interior and landscape motifs prevailed, accompanied by a melancholic mood, while later works reveal a stronger theme of loneliness, increased dramatism, and emotional tension.
According to the artist herself, painting is a form of life – a way to feel, breathe, and experience the world. This attitude is reflected in her works: recognizable motifs intertwine with surreal images emerging from the subconscious. In the compositions, emotional intensity becomes more important than narrative logic – it is created through contrasting colors, deformed forms, and layered brushstrokes. Thick paint surfaces alternate with transparent ones, planes with textures, and deep spaces with generalized silhouettes.
The exhibition “Singular of Two” presents works created in 2024–2025. The creative process emerged from personal experiences – after spending five months in a hospital, drawing became a kind of salvation for the artist, helping her endure the time of enclosed space and monotony. Upon returning home, painting became a way to reflect on the fragility of the body, the desire for life, and the search for inner protection.
The title of the exhibition, “Singular of Two,” reveals one of the key principles of the artist’s work – the ability to see and depict duality as a whole. At first glance, unified faces or objects in her works begin to split, divide into two or even more parts, thus revealing inner multiplicity. “Nothing is eternal or constant: everything in nature breaks apart, divides into two or three, and somehow comes together. As if from the subconscious, surreal motifs arise on their own, a new reality pulsates in my paintings,” says the painter Audronė Petrašiūnaitė.
Text also plays an important role in the artist’s work – literary impulses take on a visual form, turning into metaphorical characters. The titles of the works connect with each other, forming a unique poetic system – like a fragmented poem or a map of the inner world, revealing the constantly changing, sensitive, and restless universe of the author.
The exhibition will run until May 9. Admission is paid. Ticket price – 2 Eur. Information about discounts is available at the “Laiptai” Gallery. Opening hours of the “Laiptai” Gallery of the Šiauliai Cultural Center: Tue–Fri – 11:00–18:00, Sat – 11:00–17:00.
Information provided by Kristina Alseikė, event organizer of the Exhibition Department of the Šiauliai Cultural Center, tel. +370 658 80 507, email kristina.alseike@siauliukc.lt.
