Based in Kaunas, Lithuania, Violeta Jarašiūnienė creates art under the name ViJa Art. Her lifelong devotion to painting has deepened over the years, as she gradually honed her skills with canvas and paints. Violeta’s path as an artist began modestly—her debut exhibition took place in 2008 at the community centre in Betygala, located in the Raseiniai district, and subsequently at the Betygala Museum. For about ten years, painting remained a quiet and tentative endeavor, a creative escape woven in with her daily routine. It was during the quarantine period that art reclaimed a central role in her life, sparking new exhibitions in Kaunas (2021), Vilnius (2022), and at the Zanavykiai Museum in Lukši, Raseiniai (2023).
Violeta approaches her work in an intuitive and impulsive manner. She does not plan her compositions in advance but allows her choices of color and emotion to shape the piece as it unfolds. Music is always present while she paints, its rhythms and melodies subtly stirring her brush and influencing the palette. Describing her method, she compares the merging of colors to how experiences, dreams, and emotions blend in life—ever seeking harmony, gentleness, and completeness. Careful attention is given to every section of the canvas, ensuring that no detail, no matter how small, is neglected.
The completed paintings materialize as enigmatic, dreamlike scenes—images that resist description, evoking snippets of a fairy tale or passing daydreams. Each piece functions like an encoded narrative or a secret, inviting those who view it to unravel its mysteries for themselves. Violeta often adds poems or short tales to accompany her art, conceiving of each painting as if it were a book meant to be read and rediscovered again and again. She believes viewers who engage with her work embark on their own journey, searching for hidden meanings and personal discoveries within the layers of each painting.
Violeta invites all to lose themselves in her art, encouraging them to find their own happiness, fears, and dreams within the canvas’ complex details. She likens this experience to stepping into a fairy tale, with the viewer cast as the hero—wandering through scenes shaped by emotion and fantasy, pursuing answers and welcoming self-understanding. Her paintings trace a journey from the past into the present, inviting people to release their sadness and enter a vibrant realm of color, hope, and safety. Through this artistic process, Violeta seeks to kindle moments of awe and connection, transforming art into a magical portal for self-discovery.
About this artwork+
In the painting "How to Tame the Dragon?" by Violeta Jarašiūnienė, an abstract and dynamic composition unfolds, capturing a chaos of motion and emotion through swirling forms and energetic brush strokes. The color palette is diverse, featuring bold yellows, oranges, and reds which provide a stark contrast against the cooler blues and grays that dominate the background. These shades suggest an interaction of fire and water elements, creating a sense of conflict or convergence. The central part of the work gives an impression of a whirlpool or vortex, infused with darker blues and whites, representing churning waters. Above this, lighter and more ethereal forms might evoke the silhouette of a dragon, composed in soft, sweeping lines of blue and gray that dominate the upper section of the scene. This dragon form blends into the stormy atmosphere, contributing to the painting's mystical and turbulent feel. The technique used involves layered, textured strokes, suggesting depth and a frenetic energy, as if capturing a moment of transformation or creation. The edges of the painting are softer, almost fading into the canvas, which directs the viewer’s focus towards the vivid, tumultuous center, inviting them to ponder the complexity of taming such a powerful and mythical creature as a dragon.
