A viewer might be surprised to learn that the geometric abstractions of Chicago artist Rimas Čiurlionis are inspired by nature. It is not the raw organicness of the natural world that the artist gravitates to, but rather the inherent patterns that permeate all forms of life: radials, fractals and symmetries. Despite all this, Čiurlionis’ paintings are decidedly not illustrative; in fact, these motifs are totally transformed, becoming a purely formalist language. Steering viewers away from associations from nature, or even everyday life, Čiurlionis creates a dialogue that occurs entirely within the rectangle. And the relation between the work and the viewer appears between them as in the meeting of two fields that are able to either augment the other or to destroy it.
“Art is a means by which we can, for an instant, stop the mind or move it more forcefully in a direction to which we are unaccustomed”, states Čiurlionis. “I seek to perceive abstraction and express it, in any artistic form, through inner experience. A work is a reflection of my thought and aspiration which is rewritten and repeated day in and day out in a different quality, at times perceiving that it is the infinite, which joins me to everything, which changes me and which I am changing.”
Rimas Čiurlionis was born in Kaunas, Lithuania. After completing his studies at the Stepas Žukas School for Applied Arts, he was employed for eleven years in the restoration of frescoes at the baroque period Pažaislis Monastery outside Kaunas. In 1992, Čiurlionis came to the United States and settled in Chicago. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions throughout Europe and the United States. His work is included in many public and private collections including the Adamkus Presidential Library and the US Embassy in Vilnius.
