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Violet
"The Hook" (a cultural venue in Vilnius, Lithuania)
- Almost! - Nonsense...
I am Gabrielė Gervickaitė.
- What crotch? - Take a look!
Now - right now - I am working on something for Kaunas Biennale.
I got invited. Unitext is the overarching theme this year.
My works are... cyborgs.
This is one of them. You can take a look.
Departure seems to define my practice. I keep departing.
I leave platforms. Say, I was on canvas, I was on paper.
Now I am departing once again.
This time I use these boards made of plastic as surfaces.
I keep departing and entering.
Why is it so huge? I love large format.
You can see all of its... It looks good!
I think so...
Because I am small and I desire big things.
Besides, large format looks better.
You can see more this way.
Electrical tapes, duct tape started... out of medical drawings...works, collages.
When I was expressing my previous experiences in drawings.
Not just personal experiences, but those of other people also.
Those that relate to various bodies, wounds, reshaping of bones...
In those drawings, collage works I used adhesive bandage
Then I integrated all kinds of electrical tapes...
Those that remind us of medical objects.
You know, medical industry appropriates all kinds of colorful things...
Orthopedic casts arrive with all kinds of stickers.
In rehabs there are all kinds of rubber straps .
Well, I started to use similar materials.
They didn't come out of blue, my materials are not otherworldly.
Everything is from the environment that surrounds me.
ON DOCUMENTATION OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
OK, documentation...
You know, that documentation is basically a reflection of me getting myself into something. Constantly.
It is inevitable I document and go back to what happened to me.
But I do not want to emphasize that. And to remain in this.
So, now I am trying to think of this and to work on this with a somewhat more global outlook.
In general, I try to think how a range of various elements affects human body.
Human becomes this little robot.
Different systems affect this human.
I am thinking how the human lives in this and what does this human experience.
I mean, we are so dependent on various technologies...
Just think about the hands-free driving.
Or you meet some man on a street talking to himself... And then you see that next to his ear he has some little thingy attached.
And then you can think of various surgeries, implants, etc.
The moment of illumination happened when I started to do those works on my personal experiences.
You know, I worked on this before.
But it was so... hidden behind many layers. Very different from present work.
The very beginning was even before I started studies at the Vilnius Academy of Arts.
Oh but then all kinds of landscapes began...
... still lives... and the like...
At the Vilnius Academy of Arts there was so much emphasis on the technical element.
How to paint a good still life. Or some compositions. Which always had a subject matter.
Or I had to come up with the subject matter as a student.
I did not feel encouraged... this was not a safe environment to come out as what you are.
To come out with what I really want to do, with what I am...
With what I am. And then I went to Sweden for study abroad.
I had a space of my own there. A studio where no one could enter without my permission.
This remained a zone of my own.
This probably added to a sense of security.
Another important thing. I met many interesting people. Faculty.. who wanted to speak with me about this.
They spoke about what I was working on. They guided me. Steered me.
They showed me a direction which remains helpful.
So.. this is how the illumination happened.
ON EROTICISM IN THE MOST RECENT WORKS
Well, this is quite an intimate question...
Of course, to show these works, to produce them takes some guts on my part.
The prehistory of these works is quite simple, as a matter of fact.
I go back to the experiences I mentioned.
For instance, you are being taken to the surgery room on a gurney. You are entirely naked.
Sometimes you are given a hospital gown, other times - no.
In Lithuania it is like this... something might be covered up, oh but if it is - oh well....
The human body is not regarded as important at all.
Or there is no need to respect this body. This is the impression I got.
The eroticism in my works probably stems from this...
(Technobodies catalog)
The eroticism began as a response to lack of respect.
You know, it's quite real.
This might be a bit of stretch. But... hospitals consists of wards.
I have been to a hospital where the body is treated with a lot of respect.
In such hospitals, you have curtains. Separating beds.
In Lithuania this is not the case.
You're out there performing your personal things in public.
In the ward, among others. Or you are being inspected. Or something is done to you.
The you feel as if you are a piece of raw meat.
And when you get anesthesia during the surgery, you fall asleep and who knows what's happening...
Who knows where the gaze and the hands go...
In general, I feel quite isolated doing what I do.
When I take part in group shows I feel I am being singled out.
This is neither good nor bad.
I miss having folks around me with whom I could talk about what I do and with whom I could go along.
Perhaps this is the biggest challenge.
But other times I have so much fun fooling around and generating reactions!
And then people approach you with a nod: "Oh this is so interesting..."
In fact, I think what I do is just a fracture.
I want to see more of the world, more experiences... And what the people are doing with this.
Just think. The building of the Department of Painting at the Vilnius Academy of Arts is not accessible.
There are these giant stairs that you must overcome.
These are very basic, very physical daily matters.
People with disability who manage to pursue degree because of family support, because their parents can provide financial help
These are the people who manage to study art. There are so few artists within this community, I think.
Or if they exist, they are along the lines of amature arts and crafts.
They get involved in various little activity centers. They learn knitting... crochet...
They make little boxes, handbags so they can earn the living.
This is our reality.
ON DISABILITY AS METAPHOR
I think there is so little understanding that people can be presented as what they in fact are.
For the sake of convenience, humans suddenly are likened to some supernatural figures.
Maybe this stems from desire to protect this person.
Or to keep at bay with the society which in fact is injurious.
And people are afraid of this society.
But I disagree that those angel-like figurations, events when suddenly people have to wear angel costumes
are of any help to these people.
Quite the contrary, I think. Such a move can humiliate.
On the other hand, when people with disability are invited somewhere, they are thrilled they got invited somewhere at all.
This is the state of things.
People with disability are treated as kids. During one of those Christmas events.
Let's dress kids up as tiny angels!
There will be a dance and they everyone can applaud.
There is no understanding that these are people with their needs, desires, and so on.
This one is like Orlan!
I wonder if I gave her one of these, would she offer some financial support?
This is a studio. We're simply looking at what we've got and doing the best we can.
Next, please!
Next, please!
Could you lift it up a bit? Yeah, just like that!
ON ARTISTS THAT INSPIRE
If I had to mention Lithuanian ones, I like Marija Teresė Rožanskaitė. I like her so much!
I would love to catch up with her and have a cup of tea together!
When I think of her, I like the fact that I feel as if I am not on my own out there with my work.
And this is awesome. The subject that matter that interests me can be expressed in an interesting and beautiful way.
It is not like I am saying: "Oh I feel unwell, behold inspect how unwell I am!"
Instead, as an artist you can discover different forms, admire different colors.
Oh this is such a canonical example... I used to love Frida Kahlo. But this is canon, you know...
I would love to go for a coffee with Basquiat.
I like him a lot. When I was in Holland, I bought this book. It was all in Dutch, but still I got it.
Because it contained lots of reproductions of Basquiat's works.
Also, when I was in Sweden I got so taken by Eva Hesse.
I like Eva Hesse a lot. Totally.
This documentary about her should come out soon. I am really looking forward to it.
The textures, how everything is done. So exciting!
I think, in order to make ends meet, I will have to do landscapes.
A friend of mine told me that we should draw flowers. Paint them, rather.
So, I'll start painting flowers. And landscapes.
As for technobodies... They will remain as long as they are needed.
As long as I want to keep them. Or let them go. Maybe later I will become technomachines?
I don't know...
Player. Player - because I enjoy playing.
Yeah. It's a game. Not just with media or colors.
It's a game with life. Oh that's a big statement!
I paint!
Sounds good?
Gabrielė Gervickaitė spoke to Lina Žigelytė
Many thanks to Dovilė Lapinskaitė