Simona Rukuižaitė is a visual artist and researcher interested in immersive engagements with earth and mineral pigments. Her practice revolves around the poetic gestures of observation, research of the geological origins of ochres and the contextual environments in which they dwell. Through an interdisciplinary approach, Simona contemplates pigments as substances extracted from the landscape – materials bearing narratives and agencies.

During her residency in Kintai, Simona observes the landscape as an independent entity embedded with geological narratives. Rethinking painting from an ontological perspective, she approaches it as a medium grounded in materials – working with pigments that hold (hi)stories related to the motif of still waters. The landscape becomes a tactile ground for research, where painting is treated as a gesture – a way of detaching from depiction towards reevaluating the fundamental structure(s) of painting.

▶ LANDSCAPE FORMATIONS residency programme, July 2024