Melbourne artist Brigita La was born in 1973 in Lithuania. 1990-1996 she studied Fine Arts at Vilnius Art Academy, Kaunas Art Institute and acquired her Master’s Degree, majoring in textiles. During her studies she travelled extensively throughout Europe, visiting major Art Museums and Art galleries. In 1992 she studied with Prof. Tony Fink at the Salzburg Summer Art Academy, Austria and received a student’s scholarship for the next year’s studies. Subsequently, In 1993 she took a workshop with Prof. Anne and Patrick Poirier at the same Summer Art Academy, Salzburg.
In 1998 Brigita with her partner and their daughter moved to Australia. In 2001 they established Bird’s Gallery in Melbourne with the aim of exhibiting & promoting their own and other contemporary artists’ works. In 2018, after 16 years Bird’s Gallery moved online.
Since 1995 Brigita has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in Australia and Europe. In 2013 and 2015 she was a finalist for the prestigious HUTCHINS art prize in Hobart, Tasmania.
She is currently focused on her paintings and works on paper, as well as her freelance curatorial work. She spends a lot of time in nature and travels often between Australia and Lithuania.
Painters that she admires and learns from are Willem De Kooning, Karel Appel, Ian Featherer, Roy Jackson, Joan Mitchell, Cy Twombly, Ann Thomson, Elizabeth Cummings, Arunas Vaitkunas, Audrone Petrasiunaite and Elvyra Kairiukstyte,
Artist Statement 2020
My recent paintings are inspired by my outdoor adventures, especially a road trip to Uluru last May. I love being in nature and observing the land, which pulsates with various colours, sounds & textures, especially when I am snorkelling or walking, sitting, sleeping directly on the ground. It seems like I download information from the Earth on many levels and I get inspired to share this through my paintings.
My painting process is very spontaneous, impulsive and raw. I like to spill it out quickly and freshly without thinking or editing too much. My paintings can be referenced as abstract gestural expressionism. In my art, I would like to liberate myself of all rules & restrictions. It’s an intuitive process and I express myself through colours, textures, abstract shapes.
Very often I come to painting without a concrete goal and allow myself to feel what wants to be expressed. Sometimes I take a theme as a reference point and try to stick to it and to channel that energy. Most of my pieces reference some sort of real or imaginary landscape.
Each painting has many layers. I dry each layer, build on it and create rich, organic patterns & shapes, which dance and interact together.