Laima Oržekauskienė is a renowned Lithuanian contemporary artist. In 2005 she received the Lithuanian National Culture and Art Prize. The most important characteristics of the artist’s work are respect for the craft of textile art, relevant content and contemporary forms of expression. L. Oržekauskienė plays a significant role in Lithuanian art field as well as contemporary conceptual textile context, as she was one of the first, who linked craft of textile and intellect with relevant contemporary art tendencies. L. Oržekauskienė’s lead of the VAA Kaunas Faculty Textile Department is associated with the dissemination of concept of textile as a conceptual discipline and the formation of a new generation of contemporary textile artists. Since the beginning of her career, by researching the origins of textile, its symbols, traditional forms, and semiotic meanings the artist searched for an individual form of expression and penetrated deeper into the temporal and everyday life, metaphysical reality, female identity and experiences. In her works, the artist reflects and contemplates references in our everyday lives: life and death, man and woman, personal / private. A deep interest in the visuality of ornaments, symbols and traditional archaic weaving techniques, and their relationship with the principles of contemporary art are the epicentre of L. Oržekauskienės creativity – art historian and critic, prof. dr. Rasa Žukienė
The artist has held numerous solo exhibitions (Lithuania, Germany, Austria, India and Japan). L. Oržekauskienė has also presented her works in various group exhibitions as well as national and international art fairs, of which most famous are: 2015 – international exhibition “Art_Textiles” curated by prof. Jennifer Harris (Manchester, United Kingdom), 2014 – art fair “Chicago EXPO” (Chicago, USA) and 2013 – a collection of Lithuanian textile art “Textile LT” (Philadelphia, USA). L. Oržekauskienė actively participates in various international projects, symposiums, and artists’ residencies. In 2013 she participated in an artist residency at “City de Arts” studio in France. Throughout her career she has received major awards and in 2015 L. Oržekauskienė received Best Artist Award at the Contemporary Art Fair ARTVILNIUS’15.
Her works are included in the collections of Lithuanian National Museum, M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, Art Gallery of Szombathely (Hungary), Art Centre (Stockholm, Sweden) as well as private collections. The artist is a member of the Lithuanian Artists’ Association, honorary member of Textile Artists’ Guild and chairwoman of the organizational committee of “Kaunas Biennial”.
Date of birth
1959 02 13
Education
1978-1985 Vilnius Academy of Arts
Professional qualification, academic degree
2006 - Professor, Textile Department, Kaunas Faculty, Vilnius Academy of Arts
Employer and position
2006-till now Professor, Textile Department, Kaunas Faculty, Vilnius Academy of Arts
1996 -2007 Associate Professor and Head Textile Department, Kaunas Faculty, Vilnius Academy of Arts
1987-1996 Lecturer, Textile Department, Kaunas Faculty, Vilnius Academy of Arts
Solo Exhibitions:
2016 „SOFA“ Gallery, Druskininkai, Lithuania
2015 Contemporary Art Fair ARTVILNIUS’15, Vilnius, Lithuania
2015 Sanskriti Foundation, Artist residency, Delhi, India
2013 “GALLERYGALLERY”, Kyoto, Japan
2013 “Aukso pjūvis” Gallery, Kaunas, Lithuania
2011 “Balta” Gallery, Kaunas, Lithuania
Group Exhibitions:
2016 Biennial of Lithuanian Textile, Vilnius, Lithuania
2016 15th International Triennial of Tapestry, Lodz, Poland
2015 Chicago EXPO, Chicago, USA
2015 London EXPO, London, Great Britain
2015 “ART_TEXTILES”, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, Great Britain
2014 Chicago EXPO, Chicago, USA
2014 “(ZU)DECKEN”, “Trofejas” Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2011 ARTE&ARTE Miniartextil, Como, Italy
Conferences, residencies and workshops
2016 Conference “Make:Shift 2016”, Crafts Council, Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester, Great Britain
2015 Conference “Sonic Pattern and the Textility of Code”, London, United Kingdom
2014 Artist residency at International City of Arts, Paris, France
2011 Artist residency at International City of Arts, Paris, France
Paper presentations
2016 Paper “Lithuanian Textile. NOW”, Kiev, Ukraine
Expert activities
2013 Jury member, Contemporary Art Fair ARTVILNIUS’13, Vilnius, Lithuania
2011-till now Chairwoman of the board, “Kaunas Biennial”
2012-till now Jury member, Arts PhD, Vilnius Academy of Arts
2006-2016 Council member, Kaunas Faculty, Vilnius Academy of Arts
Awards
2016 Silver medal award, 15th International Triennial of Tapestry, Lodz, Poland
2016 Diploma, Biennial of Lithuanian Textile, Vilnius, Lithuania
2015 Best artist award, Contemporary Art Fair ARTVILNIUS’15, Vilnius, Lithuania
