3 minute read
Marija Rutkauskaite
IB Year 13 Visual Arts Exhibition
I am a professional swimmer from Lithuania, currently training and studying in Thailand. I have spent 13 years of my life swimming and competing locally, nationally and globally. As I grew older I started to realize what swimming meant to me and its various huge impacts on my life.
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One of the biggest influences is the improvement of my physical health. The water resistance improves cardiovascular health which helps to build and strengthen muscles in my arms, legs, core and other places for a stronger and leaner body. As an IB student-athlete, I have a lot going on in my daily life and a lot to juggle. The swimming pool is the place that helps me to let off steam. Swimming is an aerobic activity and creates a sense of calm throughout the body, leaving me to feel refreshed after my workouts. It relieves my crowded mind by giving me something else to focus on and put my mind into.
Swimming has helped me to improve my time management, organisation and decrease my stress levels. In my exhibition I have used art as an expression of my daily life and challenges. I wanted to produce different types of artwork to communicate experiences and feelings to the viewer that have great personal significance. Each piece produced has a unique meaning as part of a coherent body.
The exhibition I present here draws the viewer into gaining insight into my feelings and their own of being in water or underwater. It is intended to guide the audience rather than leaving it open to their own interpretation.
My pieces are positioned along one wall closely together where the visual correlation can be observed in my artwork. Some of my artworks have a simple white frame so as not to distract the viewer from the actual work.
The exhibition of my artwork will be displayed in visual order to express my swimming life. For example, “Abditory Above” is the largest and most powerful piece in my exhibition. Water for me is a place to hide or disappear from the world and its chaos. I wanted this piece to dominate the space to draw the audience closer to see the detail of the artwork that may otherwise be unnoticed.
In this piece, I made larger marks that glide across the canvas. The viewer may also have to take steps back in order to see the entire piece properly. This is similar to my artwork “Kalopsia” , a triptych which is also a large scale in comparison to some of my other pieces.
My exhibition is displayed on three walls which follow each other in sequence. This creates the “flow” of my artworks and allows the viewers to “swim” through and be totally immersed by the pieces. Seeing all the pieces work together also makes it easier for the viewers to understand the deeper meaning behind the individual pieces as they can identify linking features in the other pieces.
YIN YANG Woodcut Print & Ink 29.7x42.0cm, February 2022
WHO SAYS
Photography & Photoshop 42x59.4cm, November 2021
DIVINE
Ceramics 28x18x16cm, February 2022
HOLD YOUR BREATH Photograph 42x59.4cm, May 2021
DIVE RIGHT IN Acrylic Paint, Wax, Glue, Oil Pastel, Shellac, Paper on Canvas 200x100 cm, December 2021
RECHARGE
Acrylic Paint on Canvas & Projected Image 110x78cm, November 2020
0 TO HERO
Acrylic Paint and Wax 90x120 cm, February 2022
NAIADES Photography 42x59.4cm, April 2021
ME, MYSELF & I Photography 42 x 59.4 cm, March 2021
STRETCH & REACH Etching and Ink 29.7x42 cm, February 2021
