On 29 April at 6 pm, ‘Desiccating’, a solo exhibition of work by Onė Austėja Maldonytė, opens at Editorial (Latako 3, Vilnius). Created specifically for this show, the sculptural installation by the Oslo-based Lithuanian artist of the younger generation brings together ceramics, organic matter and metal structures into a single, interwoven ecosystem. In it, the processes of drying, evaporation and drainage form the central motif, pointing to the industrial use of deep-water reservoirs.
The exhibition features ceramic sculptures made using an experimental open-air firing technique, whose forms evoke natural formations or developing organisms. The artist grows these ceramic surfaces with layers of gelatine, which gradually liquefy, evaporate and disappear over the course of the exhibition. Displayed on custom metal grates, these organic sculptures come into contact with industrial structures designed to channel liquids and waste.
As the artist notes: ‘In my latest exhibition, I continue to explore the themes of water and life that I began several years ago. The starting point for the Vilnius exhibition was a series of tests with deep-water reservoirs, where water is pumped to the surface, lithium is extracted from it, and the water is then returned underground. It was precisely this process of extraction that captured my imagination: the scale and vulnerability of water reservoirs, and the use and consumption of water, both drinkable and otherwise, in our daily lives. This installation, therefore, invites us to reflect on drying as a process of disappearance and change, leading towards a transformation into new forms and ecological processes.’
The extraction, use and separation of water in the pursuit of accelerating technological development not only creates future challenges, but also gives rise to new landscapes and hybrid forms of nature. ‘Desiccating’ becomes a fragment of this emerging future landscape.
Onė Austėja Maldonytė (b. 1995) is a ceramicist and artist working in Lithuania and Norway. She completed her BA in ceramics at Vilnius Academy of Art in 2018, and her MA at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo) in 2022. Her recent solo exhibitions include: ‘Inserted’ at the Aukštaitijos Vandenys water reservoir, Panevėžys, Lithuania (2024); ‘Virtuoti’ at the Akademija gallery, Vilnius (2023); and exhibitions at Tårngalleriet, Vestfold Kunstsenter, Norway (2022) and International Casita Contempo, Oslo (2022).
The exhibition runs until 20 June.
Graphic designer: Monika Janulevičiūtė.
Translator: Martynas Galkus
Language Editor: Joseph Everatt
The exhibition is supported by the Lithuanian Council for Culture, Norwegian Crafts (Norway), and Arts and Culture Norway.
Editorial opening hours: Wed–Fri 3–7pm / Sat 12–4pm
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