Noumen: Visuals no.1, 2024

Watercolor on paper

Noumena is an undetectable object that we cannot perceive directly, but which we try to imagine in order to explain the boundaries between our perception and the unknown reality. Noumene is the opposite of phenomenon – it is a thing in itself. It exists independently of our experience and perception. In this body of work, I want to explore how I, with my limited perceptual capacities, perceive images of noumena. Although we can never directly see or feel it, my focus is on how we can create imaginary images of unreal things. However, it is important to understand that this imagining will always be conditioned by the structure of our senses and perception. In this theme I explore the boundaries between what we see and feel and what may exist beyond the horizon of our perception. I am interested in how our imagination can create images of what is essentially unknowable and inaccessible to direct perception. Noumena’s images become a tool to analyse the limits and possibilities of our own perception. My perception is linked to the images I feel when I observe the world. Objects affect me not only in their form, but also in their signs, their emotional impact, their texture, their light. When I perceive specific objects, I try to capture them in indirect images. But the further I go in this process, the more I notice how things lose their object-ness. They become more than just material objects – they become an image for me to speak. My images are a way of telling a story, of expressing myself, of sharing perception. Drawing on the ideas of Immanuel Kant, Arthur Schopenhauer and other philosophers and artists, I try to combine philosophical concepts with my own experience to create works that encourage the viewer to delve deeper into the unseen world. Similarly, Algimantas Švėgžda was able to see the vast universe in a small seed, a flower or a twig, and this gave him a unique understanding of the nature of the world. For him, it was not only the image or the shapes that mattered, but also what lay beneath the surface, what revealed the essence of the universe. In the same way, for me it is not only the images that matter, but also what lies beneath the surface. With my work, I try to approach the noumena through images that reveal an unusual and unfamiliar reality that lies beyond the horizon of our perception. I imagine or represent its essence through signs and metaphors, trying to express what is beyond the reach of our senses or consciousness. My artistic expression is concerned with the qualities of an object that are deeply rooted in the object itself. In order to convey these qualities, I try to bring out the subtleties of form, mark, emotional impact, textures and light. In my work, fragments of the object may appear as starting points, but they will be applied in such a way that the object loses its object-ness. The relationship between colour and shadow is not based on reality, form can be stylised and textures rendered in unusual ways. For me, signification is very important. In my work, objects become signifying elements that represent something more than just their physical form. As they lose their original object-ness, they become noumenal images, expressive signs that reveal hidden meaning and depth. The relationship between the thing and the noumenal, between the perceptible and the imperceptible, is very important to me. The chosen watercolour technique gives the works a subtle and heavenly quality. Watercolour, as a means of lightness and the sublime, becomes a tool to approach the notion of the object in itself. It gives the impression that I am exploring not only the visible side of the world, but also something more that lies behind the shapes, colours and signs. With watercolour I try to give the impression that the viewers are no longer focused on the immediate image, but that through the sign they are confronted with something deeper, something that is obscure and hidden – the image of the noumenon, the thing-in-itself. In this way I try to convey not only the outer form but also its hidden meaning, allowing the viewer to look beyond the visible, to explore what may lie beyond the surface of the object. This is my way of approaching the noumenon through its image