Birutė Nomeda Stankūnienė

Birutė Nomeda Stankūnienė is an abstract expressionist painter from Vilnius, Lithuania. We talked during her residency in the spring of 2020.

Photos from Birute’s studio

What is your practice like, by which I mean when you sit down to work, what is that like? Are you in the same space, the same time of day? Is it every day? Or is it something else?

I don’t come to the studio every day, it doesn’t happen like that. It happens from time to time, every week, or every two weeks, I get the urge.

Once the urge arrives I have to clean up some space and time, and that takes two to three days – finding and preparing the canvases, and the mind. Once that’s done, the next day from early in the morning, I’ll work for three to four hours. Perhaps I’ll go back to it after a break, and perhaps not until the next day, because it leaves me exhausted. In a good way, like the tiredness from physical exertion. 

If the breaks get too long it’s difficult to come back to the spiritual situation. In those cases a painting might become totally different after my break, it depends.

I‘d like to be in the studio every day, ideally, even without having to paint every day. I’d like to have the time to observe what’s already been done without having to hurry. If I come back from the studio too early I get distracted. I can go to the forest to walk, though, and that helps. 

Do you look for each idea? Or do you wait for the ideas to arrive?

I don’t have to wait. Until now I’ve had no problem finding ideas. Actually, my head and my heart are full of ideas, visions. At the moment I am in a lull after an exhibition I had prepared for that was cancelled because of Covid-19. I’m thinking about what will be next, happy with what I’ve done, but not sure if I want to continue in the same way. 

You come from an engineering background, do you think that the years you spent in design and formality show in your artwork?

I have thought about this, and at first I would have said there was no direct relationship. Abstract is abstract and designing is about logic or a system. But I think that engineering influenced my ability to be patient, to work step by step. Nothing can be achieved in one movement, time has to be spent continuously. Engineering gave me the skills to organise, to convince people to help me, and to make an idea work. 

Despite being abstract, everything in my work is connected. When I was a student I was good at physics. I believed I was bad at drawing, so I went towards engineering. But in physics you visualise, and you move towards the essence. And abstract art is an essence too, but of feelings and emotions, it’s the relationship between what you know and what you don’t know. In physics we have formulas, and if we were to compare abstract art to a formula it would be the formula for life events I’ve seen, for my experiences.

How has your art helped you to connect with other people? 

To be an artist was the tool that helped me connect with people. When I wanted to be an artist, but had decided not to be, I lost a connection with myself, my surroundings and with others. When I started creating it helped me communicate. When people understand the formula I’ve created, that’s the greatest experience I can have. Through my paintings, somehow, I am accepted, understood and valued, and that gives my life meaning.

Since the virtual residency, do you think anything about your practice will change?

The virtual residency was a great community. Me and the artists in my group still meet regularly by video call to talk about our practice.

It proved to me that I need to spend more time in my studio. I need to find focus. It’s not an easy task. In the residency I had to make an effort, and I will need to put in work to continue to make that effort, even just to spend more time thinking. I think the first step is to trust myself and abilities more. It’s easy to say ‘that can wait’ about my painting. I suppose I would like to make more space in my heart.

Please visit Birute’s website where you can read more, and see more of her beautiful paintings.