Jurga Petkus - Multi-Medium Artist
Jurga will be creating in the lighthouse during her residency from June 18th - June 24th, 2018. Jurga has been extremely involved in our local arts scene for many years. Come see her wonderful work!
For the past five years, my focus has changed from functional fibers and silk to working with recycled rusty metal. Inspired by Dr. Ever more’s incredible imagination I started exploring and experimenting with form.
I feel that both medias are affecting me in different ways and relating to my semi abstract, illustrative style. Line, texture, color and form are most important elements in my art.
Silk painting is very relaxing to do and yet very temperamental technically. I love everything about it – from planning the designs, painting process, to finally watching someone wearing the creation. Silk is such a sensuous fabric the medium naturally lends itself in wearable art. Color in it’s myriad of hues, makes the work come alive.
It sparkles, with colors and contrasts, of life in the natural world. Pattern breaks up the flatness of the color, giving the surface a rich and inviting quality.
The metal craft, on another hand, is very different and contrasting with my fiber craft. It is monochromatic, edgy, ruff and inspiring.
I picture the overall image in my mind, before I go to paper and pencil. I get thematic ideas from everyday life – the simple and casual. Things like pizza on the plate, a cat stretched lazily on the sunny carpet, a view through my window, or natural history exotica (bugs, plants and animals) are all fodder for inspiration. I am drawn repeatedly to the natural world – sea, the people and the nature in particular. Because viewers are familiar with these everyday objects, they are willing to touch the art. I like people to feel my art emotionally as well as tacitly.