Ieva Trinkūnaitė (b. 1997) is an artist representing the young generation. After completing her graphic arts studies at the Vilnius Academy of Arts in 2020, she has been working with rotogravure printing techniques, making mixed media drawings, and painting. Since 2018, Ieva has been actively participating in group exhibitions both in Lithuania and abroad, and has also held solo exhibitions in Lithuania and South Korea. Her works have found their way into the collections of the Lewben Art Foundation, Sun Blanket Foundation, China Printing Museum, as well as private collections.
At the heart of Trinkūnaitė’s artistic imagery lies the world of nature. Her large-format sheets depict sweeping landscapes adorned with unearthly rock formations, vast craters with lakes, lush palm trees casting cooling shadows, thorny steppe shrubbery rustling in the wind, blooming flowers, and occasionally, glimpses of urban scenery. Within these landscapes, animals take centre stage and often become the protagonists of her narratives. Dogs, lions, primates, and various bird species leisurely wander, lounge, or interact with one another, their attentive gaze connecting with the viewer. The artist meticulously and precisely portrays the intricate details of plants and animals, depicting their morphology, highlighting their surface textures, and at times, exaggerating them to elevate them into the forefront of her work, while enveloping her narratives in swirling leaves, fur, feathers, and hair. Her working method involves applying and rubbing materials with her fingers on the surface of the sheets, thus reinforcing the impression of tactility.
Human figures make sporadic appearances in her works, almost like secondary characters. However, the presence of humans is consistently felt, observing natural processes and animal rituals rather than actively engaging in them. Even more often, the human world intrudes in Trinkūnaitė’s art through glimpses of cityscapes, images of household items, ornaments of artefacts, hints of writing and symbols, as well as appropriated images from art and mass visual culture. Her compositions interweave memories, contemporary geopolitical, environmental and other topical concerns, and phantasmagoric visions of the future, piecing together a mosaic of fragments. These intersections of culture and nature raise pertinent questions about the relationship between humans and the natural world, particularly in the context of the ongoing Anthropocene debate. Trinkūnaitė’s art urges us to introspect and evaluate our footprint on the Earth, to embrace an empathetic outlook towards our environment, and to recognize our interconnectedness with all living beings. The artist’s journey steers away from anthropocentric, colonizing, and exoticizing perspectives, moving towards a more empathic, horizontal and egalitarian viewpoint. Thus, she asks: what if we were to fall silent? The plausible responses manifest in a myriad of fictitious scenarios, ranging from idyllic to dystopian, not always optimistic, yet eternally adorned with a unique nostalgic and melancholic beauty.
