Emilija Škarnulytė’s solo exhibition Æqualia was presented in New York
A solo exhibition by the world-renowned Lithuanian artist and filmmaker Emilija Škarnulytė, which introduces the artist’s latest video-installation Æqualia, has been opened at the Canal Projects gallery in New York. During the exhibition’s opening at the jam-packed gallery hall, Škarnulytė, artist Mayfield Brooks and Palestinian sound artist Omar Ahmad presented Confluence, a performance created exclusively for the opening.
Æqualia is Škarnulytė’s latest installation, which was co-commissioned by Canal Projects and the 14th Gwangju Biennale. The installation was first introduced at the 14th Gwangju Biennale in South Korea last year. In her latest work, Škarnulytė combines scientific and mythological elements: she embodies a mermaid called Æqualia who swims through the intersection of the white-coloured Rio Solimões and the black-coloured Rio Negro rivers in Manaus, Brazil. These two rivers flow alongside one another without ever blending together and form an atypical natural phenomenon known as Encontro das Águas (The Meeting of the Waters) whose creation is caused by the rivers’ differences in temperatures and chemical composition of the water.
In her piece, the artist seamlessly blurs the boundaries between the human, the nonhuman, and the transcendental, melding scientific and mythological elements into a singular hybrid and vibrant force which helps extend the limits of conventional thinking. The shape of the mermaid embodies the figure of chimera, which exists at the intersection of multiple realms.
Introducing Škarnulytė’s immersive installation, the Artistic Director of Canal Projects Summer Guthery expressed delight at the cooperation with the artist. When asked to comment on what she had found the most captivating in Emilija Škarnulytė’s latest work, Guthery said: “One of the main things I find very impressive about Emilija and her latest work is that while making it she cooperated closely with the local people: both the scientists and the writers. It was particularly important for Emilija to get immersed in and understand the situation of the current location. She was very careful while collecting the material for this film and sought to examine everything as thoroughly as possible”.
In addition to expressing admiration to the artist’s extraordinary work ethic, the artistic director of Canal Projects also emphasised that she appreciates Emilija’s total commitment to the performance and the fact that she uses her body in her work. “Emilija’s films are very engrossing and precise. And the fact that she acts in them herself provides an element of surprise, thus it is a very interesting aspect which draws the viewer in”, Guthery commented.
Emilija Škarnulytė claims that her creative process often begins with the desire to see something that is unseen, in pursuit of new perspectives and points of reference. “As I study the world through creation, I appreciate the opportunity to penetrate through the usual layers, to open up different cross sections”, the artist says. “I am particularly captivated by phenomena that do not belong to the human-made world: these can be geological or landscape experiences that make it possible to sense time differently, the so-called “deep time” dimension. The figure of siren or mermaid, which symbolises the connection between the known and the unknown world, the boundary between human, animal, and myth, is also very important to me”.
According to the artist, her discoveries began with the first travels to South Korea, where she encountered the traces of industry and humans in the landscape. “While studying sculpture, I started perceiving video material as a sculpting element. Each pixel in the image becomes a kind of clay to me from which a space can be created”, notes Škarnulytė, in whose work the sculptural base always remains important. Her video installations function as spaces that the viewers can physically enter and experience.
In her latest piece, the artist also reflects on the topics of ecology and human impact on nature. A year after the end of filming Æqualia, Encontro das Águas started drying drastically due to the severe droughts in the region. As a result of the drying of the rivers, the Amazon river dolphins are facing mass extinction. By embodying a mermaid – half-fish, half-human – in her video installation, Škarnulytė reveals the visions that cross the boundaries of human perception and encourages us to think about the consequences of our actions.
Emilija Škarnulytė’s solo exhibition Æqualia will run until 30 March at Canal Projects in New York.
The project’s presentation in New York was partly funded by theLithuanian Culture Institute, the Lithuanian Council for Culture, Instituto Inclusartiz, and OCA: Office for Contemporary Art Norway.
Information prepared by Šarūnė Abromaitė
Photo by Vytenis Jankūnas
Last updated: 02-02-2024