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+
The painting presents a whimsical and ethereal landscape filled with a blend of architectural structures and surreal figures. Dominated by soft, diffuse colors and overlaid with swirling lines and curves, the canvas evokes a sense of motion and dream-like fluidity. At the center and spread across the scene are various historical and fantastical buildings resembling cathedrals or ancient towers, painted in a manner that merges them into the hazy background. Adding life to the cityscape are multiple figures draped in cloaks, giving them an appearance of guardians or ancient wanderers. Each figure has distinct, yet subtle features, some adorned with what seem like crowns or religious iconography, suggesting themes of royalty or divinity. To the right, standing apart with its vivid pink color, is a solitary flamingo, contrasting sharply with the muted tones of the rest of the painting. This vibrant bird, alongside the unusual combination of elements, adds a surreal and almost otherworldly quality to the artwork. The entire scene is encapsulated within a giant, golden arc, reminiscent of a sun but also acting as a boundary that frames the journey or pathway the title suggests. The arc’s presence infuses the scene with a celestial or mystical aura, reinforcing the overall theme of a voyage through a mysterious, possibly spiritual realm.
