MATCHSTICK IN THE SAND
Milena Pirštelienė (Lithuania)
Each time I start preparing for a new exhibition, I begin by listening inwards – searching for the reason to speak, and for the things I want to share. The answer comes slowly, through self-observation, through the patient and often difficult process of turning my gaze within. For me, the most intriguing part of creation is this inner journey – the search for meaning through self-exploration.
Ceramics holds a unique potential to unite form and image. This time, I tried to tone down the form and chose to linger on a single abstract object. I wanted the drawing itself to speak – like a frozen photographic frame. I sought to draw attention to a seemingly unimportant detail that might otherwise go unnoticed.
How long do we truly spend looking at something? We live in constant noise, a world of images and glowing screens. Do we ever pause before the “insignificant”? How does imagination work alongside memory? And can we ever escape ourselves?
Sometimes I just look at nothing. Or, to be more precise, at something. And then everything comes to a sudden stop; a silent, invisible shift begins to unfold. Not because of an object itself, but perhaps because of its shadow, or a resurfaced recollection. We are surrounded by countless things, but only a few stir associations. Why? I don’t know. Perhaps the eye registers beauty or notices something long-forgotten, or recalls what has been lost in time. At times, I look through the prism of longing – a small detail can spark the imagination like a trigger. I fill it with my own meaning, and what once seemed insignificant becomes intimate.
A hairpin, a hairband… my late mother – I still keep finding something of hers.
The arms of a pair of glasses.
The dark corners I feared as a child.
Something was there – lost or forgotten.
The shadow of a wall in the Old Town I pass every day.
A cracked paving stone in the street where I grew up.
A patch of peeling plaster that sometimes resembles faces.
Details of home, of things, of something in the distance I can barely see.
A coffee cup, a neatly coiled charger cable I keep forgetting – and so I’m always disconnected.
Morning, evening.
An old ring, a piece of jewellery, a promise from my husband.
A bench in my childhood park; my granddaughter and I – an endless circle.
Knick-knacks from my travels.
A pebble picked up on my way up the hill; the shadows of streetlamps.
The seaside, knots and torn ropes.
Autumn. Summer.
A match in the sand; a stick of incense by the wall.
Winter.
A dry linden blossom beneath my feet.
The little things.
I’ll keep a few of them unspoken.
They are too sentimental.
I try to tell you about myself. I try to invite you to pause.
Milena Pirštelienė, born in Vilnius in 1969, graduated from the Vilnius Academy of Arts in 1996 and joined the Lithuanian Artists Association in 1999. Over the past twenty-five years, she has exhibited in more than fifty group shows across Europe alongside several solo exhibitions and symposiums. Her sustained creative practice has earned her numerous national and international awards. In 2023, she received the Martinsons Award International Gold Prize.
The exhibition is organised by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Ceramics in collaboration with the Rothko Museum.
Supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia.
Curated by Valentīns Petjko and Aivars Baranovskis.
On view at the Rothko Museum from 5 September 2025 to 1 February 2026.
Publicity image: Milena Pirštelienė. “Matchstick in the Sand”
