ARTIST INTERVIEW: Rolandas Zigonis.
Artist Rolandas Zigonis at his studio in the forest, near Vilnius, Lithuania.
Photos: Dovalde Butenaite for "Lamu slenis" magazine.
Les Couleurs Miami Beach interviewed Rolandas Zigonis, a renowned painter based in Vilnius, Lithuania. The interview was conducted by Liudvikas Jakavicius, our editor for "Trending in Lithuania".
Born in 1987, and educated between Lithuania and the United Kingdom, painter Rolandas Zigonis took up the brush at a very early age but became a professional painter in his adulthood. Rolandas Zigonis’s creative energy has exploded, embracing a vertiginous array of techniques and abstract expressionism. Rolandas Zigonis’s work has, canvas by canvas, a unique style, and a distinctive code, like a DNA, which makes his work easily to be recognized. Today, Les Couleurs Miami Beach Magazine is talking with the Lithuanian artist from Kaunas who had the generosity to donate one of his astonishing works for the first Christmas Gala of the American NGO Les Couleurs Charity in Vilnius, Lithuania.
LIUDVIKAS JAKAVICIUS: Where are you from?
ROLANDAS ZIGONIS: Kaunas, Lithuania. I was raised there and after high school, I decided to go abroad, so I decided to go to the United Kingdom. After my stay in Cambridge, I felt a calling to go back to my homeland.
LIUDVIKAS JAKAVICIUS: Did you go to the UK for your studies?
ROLANDAS ZIGONIS: I wasn't sure what to study, or which direction to choose. I started working and then I realized that it was not really interesting. There was a need to learn something new, so I decided to start studies at Cambridge Regional College and then I just choose to study Drawing and Painting. After one year of studies, I just felt that I really want to come back to Lithuania. So, I stopped my studies there and came back to Kaunas and started my studies in Painting Restoration at Kaunas College Faculty of Arts.
LIUDVIKAS JAKAVICIUS: What was the difference between studying in the United Kingdom and studying in Lithuania?
ROLANDAS ZIGONIS: Well, the studies at Cambridge Regional College were great. They have magnificent facilities with all the equipment an art student needs. They were even giving you the acrylics, the paper, and the brush. When I came back it was like a shock. I arrived straight to the entrance exams in Art Academy in Kaunas. The facilities of the faculty were on the premises of an old psychiatric hospital which was closed, so it was a bit stressful for a beginner student. I had entrance exams there and tried to start studies in the graphic design study program. I did not pass, so the same summer almost accidentally I started Painting Restoration studies at Kaunas College Faculty of Arts. This program had a lot of classical painting disciplines, so that's how I found my true love - painting.
And the quality of the lecturers was really good. I believe that things are going pretty well in Lithuania and that we really have very good specialists in the arts. Yet, sometimes maybe we are a bit conservative if you compare it with the Western traditions where they're open for experiments. But overall we have quite good professionals.
LIUDVIKAS JAKAVICIUS: Are you a full-time painter?
ROLANDAS ZIGONIS: I started working as an art director in one of the largest advertising agencies in Lithuania. However, after 6 years, I had an enormous desire for a deeper knowledge of the universe and myself, so I decided that it was time to end my corporate life. I traveled to look for the answers in Latin America (the Andes and the Amazon jungle). These spiritual trips have brought me a unique and different perception of the world, and Nature has become my greatest source of inspiration. I made a decision back then - I want to do things in my life that makes my heart happy. I had a feeling that my artistic path had started there.
So, yes, now I can say that I am a full-time artist already for five years.
LIUDVIKAS JAKAVICIUS: When have you done your first painting?
ROLANDAS ZIGONIS: This is difficult to say. I wouldn't call the whole draws I have done paintings. The first artwork that I would call a real painting was made probably in 2019 because, before that, I did many drawings but I call them just studies and experiments. Why? Before I was not knowing exactly what I'm doing because with paintings you need to tell a story and express a position from yourself. As I continued my experiments deeper understanding came, I realized that flats in the canvas start to open, and with each painting, since then I was learning how to fly. So this painting back in 2019 gave me the ability to notice this inner space and dive into it.
LIUDVIKAS JAKAVICIUS: Which style influences your work?
ROLANDAS ZIGONIS: For sure, abstract expressionism. I was and still am a fan of this New York school, like Jackson Pollock or Clyfford Still. I like the whole philosophy of this abstract expressionist movement. When I work, I also start with abstract expressions. I noticed that those expressed abstractions are like feelings and emotions that are recorded on the canvas. It is like a piece of information, like a code, and I choose to do the next step uncoding those feelings and emotions by entering into surrealism.
Painter Rolandas Zigonis at the “Art Compensa 2022“ art fair in Vilnius, Lithuania.
LIUDVIKAS JAKAVICIUS: Who are your biggest artistic influences (Lithuanian and non-Lithuanian)?
ROLANDAS ZIGONIS: I love many artists. It may sound a bit banal but I adore Salvador Dali. I love the territories of subconsciousness he was going deep into and I'm also kind of experimenting in the same field. If we talk about Lithuanians, again, it may sound banal because probably every Lithuanian will mention the same artist, but I really admire Ciurlionis. He is a good example of an artist’s purpose in our society. By saying artist’s purpose, I mean it’s like why do we need artists in our society? Why do we need artists like him? What is the role of the artist in society? and Ciurlionis is a good example of all that. His works allow us as a society to explore our inner space. He is like a lighthouse for those who are missing hope, seeking love, and looking for refuge. I found this by myself in his work and believe that all society does as well. His works allow us to see wider how the world is and to discover possibilities to grow as better people. To summarize, he opened a space of inspiration, where everybody can dive in and look for the answers and ideas.
LIUDVIKAS JAKAVICIUS: What has influenced your creative work?
ROLANDAS ZIGONIS: Me as an artist, I'm always in the chase for inspiration, in the chase for new experiences. For those experiences that are building me as a person, that gives me experience that helps me to grow. Sometimes it is meeting new people, talking about art, learning to ride a horse, throat singing, sleeping on the beach, and listening to nature. After all the experience of life itself influence my work.
LIUDVIKAS JAKAVICIUS: Do you think that it is important to go to the Art Academy to become a professional artist?
ROLANDAS ZIGONIS: If you would ask this question 50 years ago, the answer would be yes. But I believe that with such a large amount of information that we are allowed to access easily in our daily lives, thanks to the internet, you can learn a lot on your own. The rules are changing these days, after all, you may find that there aren’t any of them. So it's just a question of creativity, motivation, and your own desire to become an artist. Of course, I'm not saying that the basics are not important. They are very important. The basics give the knowledge to your hands. But the creativity flows from a different source and sometimes in university you wouldn't find this place.
LIUDVIKAS JAKAVICIUS: How did your love for art come about?
ROLANDAS ZIGONIS: Everything comes from childhood. When I was a kid one of my favorite activities was to draw and watch how my father draws. I really loved colors and especially coloring books, I always remember my hands fully covered in colors, not so much has changed nowdays.
LIUDVIKAS JAKAVICIUS: How have you found your own style?
ROLANDAS ZIGONIS: I realized that this style that I'm doing now, I've got an inspiration subconsciously from my father. I got inspiration from his handwriting because his handwriting is really expressive. It has really round lines and I remember from my teenage years, that I was telling my dad that his handwriting is amazing and that I would like to write like him. His answer to this was, “if you want to write like this just allow your hand to do so, you only need to allow your hands to fly on the paper”. This actually put me on my expression style.
LIUDVIKAS JAKAVICIUS: What is your happiest moment being involved in art?
ROLANDAS ZIGONIS: Of course, there are a lot of nice and interesting feelings, especially when you are starting. For example, when a person comes to an exhibition of my work or to my studio and you see the person being emotionally touched, sometimes even crying after they see a piece of my work. This gives me motivation. Before I just wanted to have fun and now I want to create something for others, to share my art by giving shelter to those who seek emotional refuge. That's why I choose to be an artist. Another day a waitress came to me in the restaurant, she smiled and said - “you know, I'm a big fan of your work. I even have one of your paintings as wallpaper on my phone.“ These are really magic moments and just remind me that I am creating art for people, even for those who are not buying my art, because I am creating art for all people that are seeing my work.
LIUDVIKAS JAKAVICIUS: Thank you so much for your time and also for the donation you have made to Les Couleurs Charity.
