THOUGHT MAP
An Exhibition of Graphic Works by Jolita Udrienė
Curator: Inga Kaplan

June 5-30, 2025

Opening reception Thursday, June 5th 5-8pm.

In contemporary visual art practice, there is a persistent search for ways to capture visible reality and that which remains unseen—experiences, sensations, memories, intimate states of being. Map of Thoughts belongs to this sensitive field of artistic reflection. It speaks to what appears personal yet is recognizable to many: childhood, coming of age, the feelings evoked by a city, and the relationships that shape our identity.

The artist has chosen monotype—a technique inherently open to ambiguity. Each print becomes less a document and more of a reflection—a visual trace of emotion. Here, monotype functions as a language of visual memory, where not only motifs but also surfaces, textures, and layers are significant. This approach brings the works closer to the viewer, not through a clear narrative, but through feeling.

The iconography of the works offers a subtle reading of everyday life: pieces of textiles, details, paper airplanes, and imprints of fabric patterns that often exist on the periphery of our vision yet are brought into the foreground here. The artist not only captures their form but also conveys their emotional weight as drops of memory, as signs once significant and still inscribed in our sensory memory.

The exhibition's structure resembles a map, though not geographical—it is mental, emotional, and even dreamlike. Each piece becomes a “location” to pause at: in one, a sense of childhood nostalgia prevails; in another, fragments of tense relationships; elsewhere, the echo of city noise or solitude. It is a map without a legend, without marked routes; each viewer charts their own path through this intimate landscape.

The abstract motif of the city appears not as a concrete urban space, but as a place of being—a psycho-geographical zone where one matures, experiences, and searches for oneself. The city is a fragment, a state, and a backdrop for growth and change. This direction of gaze also allows Map of Thoughts to be read as a reflection of contemporary identity—sensitive, fragmented, yet possessing an internal logic.

This is an exhibition about how a person becomes rooted not only in places but also in relationships, objects, and intuitions. It is about how creativity becomes a tool for cartography of what would otherwise remain unnamed.

 

 

About the Artist
Jolita Udrienė graduated from the Faculty of Arts at Šiauliai Pedagogical Institute (now Vilnius University Šiauliai Academy) in 1993. In 1995, she earned a Master’s degree in the Humanities, specializing in printmaking.

Since then, she has been actively involved in the Lithuanian art scene, participating in numerous group exhibitions in Lithuania, Poland, and other countries. Her artistic journey includes seven solo exhibitions, each reflecting a deep personal engagement with visual storytelling and memory.

Currently, she teaches art at the Šiauliai Art School, where she continues to explore the intersection of pedagogy and creative practice.