“My Inner Animal” — an Exhibition by Rūta Jusionytė

March 20 – April 11, 2026, the Šiauliai Art Gallery presents “My Inner Animal”, an exhibition by Rūta Jusionytė.

Opening reception: Friday, March 20, at 5:00 PM.
Admission to the exhibition is free during the opening event.

A DIFFERENT WORLD OF RŪTA JUSIONYTĖ

In a world where competition, authority, and power relations shape the structure of our society, the work of Rūta Jusionytė feels like a breath of fresh air, and each painting becomes a small therapeutic moment. Her latest paintings take us into the artist’s characteristic dreamlike dimension of fairy tales and mythology. Here the artist’s palette is vivid, the lines expressive, and the main protagonists—mostly women and animals—float in a neutral background, unburdened by references to time or space.

Yet now, more clearly than ever before, we sense the artist’s intention to seek harmony. Archetypal or imagined bodies of the figures touch, lean against one another, overlap, and intertwine, filling the canvas with a gentle network of interactions. The delicate hand of a young girl rests peacefully on a wild beast. Animals sit quietly, guarding the girl’s sleep. Large, magical bees gaze at us protectively, almost with a hint of compassion… There is no narrative here, nor any action that would accompany it.

Rūta Jusionytė’s paintings and sculptures are moments that testify to a peaceful state of being. Within this blessed calm, the central theme of the artist’s work emerges—harmony. The relationships between human and animal, or the animal within the human, and the emotional and intuitive structure of these connections form the core axis of her artistic practice. After all, where does the animal end and the human begin?

Historically, body and spirit have long been set in opposition. Instincts were to be restrained, passions tamed, and darker feelings and emotions suppressed. In this way, reason—associated with the spirit rather than instinct—created a hierarchical system in which everything animalistic within the human was pushed down to the lowest layers.

Rūta Jusionytė’s work invites us to search for balance and reconciliation. Rather than imposing human dominance or superiority, the artist imbues her figures with empathy, encouraging the viewer to reflect on the inner dignity and inherent value of every living being. At least one figure in each painting looks directly at us with an open, gentle, and wise gaze—as if a seer, a shaman, or a psychotherapist were waiting for us to find our own answers.

By emphasizing vitality and harmony, Rūta Jusionytė momentarily lifts the weight of the world from the viewer’s chest and offers an alternative—a powerful antithesis to the cynicism and despair that often dominate contemporary discourse. These canvases touch something deeply primal and instinctive within us—something familiar and recognizable, perhaps through the collective unconscious. This encounter with oneself is the great power of art: to uplift, to inspire, and to grant us a moment of peace.

— Neringa Miller, 2024

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Rūta Jusionytė is a painter and sculptor born in 1978 in Klaipėda, Lithuania. In 1996 she completed studies in design at the Klaipėda Faculty of the Vilnius Academy of Arts, and in 2000 she graduated from the Vilnius Academy of Arts.

Since 2001, the artist has been living and working in Paris. She has been participating in exhibitions since 2004. Her works are held in private collections in Lithuania, France, Belgium, and Switzerland.

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Dear visitors, by attending exhibition openings, you agree that they may be filmed or photographed, and that images may be published on the Šiauliai Art Gallery website, in the media, or on social networks.