Dream Topographies
Diana Rudokienė (Lithuania)
“Just as REM* sleep forms an important part of our nightly rest, art occupies an essential place in human cultural and intellectual life. Art takes us on a journey beyond ordinary visual representation – a journey that inspires us to explore the complex layers of the human subconscious and the boundless possibilities of imagination.
In the half-light between sleep and waking, images surface – shifting, dissolving, reappearing. Painting becomes a map of the unseen, tracing the delicate borders between dream and perception. In this fluid, liminal space, my works emerge like landscapes of thought, where matter turns to mist and memory gathers form.
Each layer carries the pulse of the subconscious, translating what the eye cannot hold – emotion, breath, presence. In this mysterious terrain, I move between stillness and motion, between clarity and blur, seeking the place where imagination becomes real.
Through this ongoing exploration, my painting becomes both a private language and a shared experience – a meeting point of inner and outer worlds. In mapping my dream topographies, I invite viewers to recognise fragments of their own, where the invisible takes shape and the intangible finds voice.”
* Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep is the sleep stage during which dreams most often occur. The name comes from the way the eyes move beneath the eyelids while dreaming. During REM sleep, brain activity closely resembles that of wakefulness. REM sleep accounts for about 25% of total sleep time.
Diana Rudokienė
The work of Diana Rudokienė (b. 1969), an artist and art educator based in Panevėžys, Lithuania, explores the fragile boundary between the visible and the unseen, revealing her enduring fascination with the subconscious, memory, and transformation. Using translucent layers of oil and delicate tonal shifts, she creates dreamlike spaces where figures dissolve into light and atmosphere. Her practice balances introspection with universality, each work a quiet meditation on inner landscapes that mirror shared human emotions.
A member of the Lithuanian Artists’ Association since 2000 and the Fokus European Artists’ Union (Germany) since 2016, Rudokienė has exhibited widely in Lithuania and abroad. In 2006, she took part in the Mark Rothko 2006 International Painting Plein Air and is represented in the Rothko Museum collection. Rudokienė’s work has been shown at the Rothko Museum in four group projects by “A Gallery”, Panevėžys (2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022). In December 2022, the museum hosted her solo exhibition “Either – Or. Autonomous Freedom”.
The exhibition is supported by the Panevėžys City Municipality Cultural and Art Grant, 2024, Latvia’s State Culture Capital Foundation and Daugavpils City Municipality.
Curated by Zane Melāne
On view at the Rothko Museum from 5 December 2025 to 8 February 2026
Publicity image: Diana. Rudokienė “Twilight”. Oil and gold foil on canvas.
