Inga Ponomarenko ^{Emerging artist}

Artist is based in: Lithuania

Inga Ponomarenko (b. 1985) is a Lithuanian contemporary painter whose artistic practice brings together perspectives from the exact sciences, environmental observation, and painting. Her educational background in geodesy and forestry, together with her professional experience as a land management engineer, has shaped a strong sensitivity to space, landscape, and the traces left within the environment—subjects that continue to inform her artistic practice.

While her earlier works focused on abandoned places and the remnants of human presence, her recent paintings move towards abstraction. By gradually deconstructing visible motifs into symbols and metaphors, she combines classical oil painting with experimental approaches to create layered visual narratives that invite viewers to reconnect with materiality and sensory perception in an increasingly digital world.

Her latest work examines the relationship between the individual and institutional structures from the perspective of someone operating within the system itself. Everyday office objects—paperclips, matches, and other seemingly insignificant items—become symbolic protagonists, reflecting routine, identity, and the unnoticed mechanisms that shape daily life.

Ponomarenko has exhibited widely in Lithuania and internationally, including the Malamegi Lab Rome finalists’ exhibition (Italy, 2023), exhibitions organised by the Lithuanian Artists’ Association, the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, and the Vilnius Academy of Arts graduation exhibitions. In 2025, she presented the two-person exhibition On Things and Places at the Lithuanian Artists’ Association’s Drobė Gallery, followed by her graduation project Loop at the Vilnius Academy of Arts Graduation Show in 2026.