Meditation

Meditation is a sculpture depicting only the head of a person, placed horizontally as if lying down. The eyes are closed, one is fused with the face, indicated only by a hollow, while the other is marked by a cross. The sculpture’s forms are generalised and refined, devoid of distracting details, reminiscent of Constantin Brancusi’s bronze sculpture Sleeping Muse from 1910. This sculptural treatment of the theme of meditation is not new in Leonas Vytautas Strioga’s (1930–2022) work. His wooden sculpture Meditation from 1990 features an almost identical elongated human head with a cross instead of an eye. The main difference is the textured surface, typical of the sculptor, modelled with an axe, creating the impression of a face carved with a network of wrinkles. Both sculptures are connected not only by their form, but also by the mood of total concentration, immersion in thought, and the inner peace they evoke.

Text author Jurgita Ludavičienė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album THE ART OF MATERIALS. Compiler and text author Jurgita Ludavičienė
Expositions: "A Glance at the History of Lithuanian Art from Užupis", 30 August 2018 – 1 June 2019, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curator Giedrė Jankevičiūtė.
© LATGA, Vilnius 2025

Meditation is a sculpture depicting only the head of a person, placed horizontally as if lying down. The eyes are closed, one is fused with the face, indicated only by a hollow, while the other is marked by a cross. The sculpture’s forms are generalised and refined, devoid of distracting details, reminiscent of Constantin Brancusi’s bronze sculpture Sleeping Muse from 1910. This sculptural treatment of the theme of meditation is not new in Leonas Vytautas Strioga’s (1930–2022) work. His wooden sculpture Meditation from 1990 features an almost identical elongated human head with a cross instead of an eye. The main difference is the textured surface, typical of the sculptor, modelled with an axe, creating the impression of a face carved with a network of wrinkles. Both sculptures are connected not only by their form, but also by the mood of total concentration, immersion in thought, and the inner peace they evoke.

Text author Jurgita Ludavičienė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album THE ART OF MATERIALS. Compiler and text author Jurgita Ludavičienė
Expositions: "A Glance at the History of Lithuanian Art from Užupis", 30 August 2018 – 1 June 2019, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curator Giedrė Jankevičiūtė.
© LATGA, Vilnius 2025