In 2023, Sandra Kvilytė won the Meno Niša gallery’s competition for emerging artists. She presented her first solo exhibition at the gallery in Vilnius. Over the next two years, the artist became an active member of the Lithuanian art scene: she held an exhibition in Kaunas and participated in group exhibitions. Additionally, her works were presented twice by Meno Niša at the ArtVilnius art fair.
In her recent work, external visual stimuli, which played an important role in her earlier practice, give way to internal formation. The exhibition features works primarily from 2026 in which she develops a painterly language balancing figuration and abstraction while exploring the emergence of images on canvases.
“For many years, the Meno Niša gallery has been dedicated to supporting the work of emerging artists. We are delighted that, during this time, we have nurtured the creative growth of numerous artists, introduced them to the international art market, and successfully showcased their work in Lithuania and on the international art scene. In 2023, this project took on a new form, with artists selected through an open competition. That’s where we discovered Sandra, whose work stood out among the many other applications with its unique style and sensitive portrayal of everyday memories in her paintings,” said Diana Stomienė, director of the Meno Niša gallery.
Nocturnal marks a new phase in the artist’s work, shifting her focus to a deeper reflection on her relationship with painting and its potential. Though the exhibition is inspired by the theme of night, it also explores the birth, transformation, and dissolution of the image in painting. The artist offers viewers and creators alike a multifaceted perspective on painting as a constantly evolving process of visual expression and personal state.
In recent years, S. Kvilytė’s work has focused more and more on sensory experiences, corporeality, and the observer’s fragile position. “As I delved into this theme, I observed how the gaze, having rebounded from the external world, gradually shifted toward a more personal, inner exploration. I started thinking not only about what the night swallows up but also about what I cannot see within my own body. Water, salt – these are shadows lurking deep beneath the skin. In trying to grasp the forms of these mysteries, I began to reflect on my relationship with the surface of the canvas,” the artist emphasizes.
The exhibition Nocturnal weaves together several motifs, including fragments of nocturnal environments, shadows and contours, the unseen in darkness, and reflections on physicality and inner states. Through parallels between water, landscape, and the body, the body is revealed as a metaphor for experience and the inner world. Working intuitively, the artist often applies the a la prima principle, using spontaneous, sketch-like brushstrokes and a sensitive treatment of the surface to maintain the image’s fragility, dynamism, and impression of constant change.
The exhibition establishes an open relationship with the viewer, inviting them to experience the works through their state of mind, mood, and personal associations, not just observe them. As S. Kvilytė states, these dreamlike, mysterious works reveal themselves in two ways: for some, they function as a field of emotional intensity, and for others, as a calm, contemplative space.
Sandra Kvilytė earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in painting from the Kaunas Faculty of the Vilnius Academy of Arts. The artist’s works are included in the 21st-century collection of the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, and her pieces have been acquired by private collectors in Lithuania and the United Kingdom. In 2025, she became a member of the Lithuanian Artists’ Association.
The exhibition Nocturnal will run until June 5.
The gallery is sponsored by the Vilnius City Municipality.
