No more than vodka & kebabs (2017) Mixed media

Three billboards featuring personal archive photographs of myself and my mother were covered with ornaments created by hand-stuck stickers of kebabs, vodka and various stereotypically Easter European vodka drinking attributes. The unifying element in all three photos was a Persian carpet, which was a common wall decoration and a symbol of ‘prestige’ during Soviet times and, as seen in the images, hung on the wall of my own home. 3 piece installation; 1 out of 3; 150 x 100 cm. 

The works navigate the space between the two worlds – the one created by my grandmother coming from Moscow to Lithuania and the one created by myself – by immigrating to the mirage that Western countries seemed to always be. The work tells a personal story – of splitting oneself into two – the one defined by yourself and the one defined by others. The hybrid identity in turn is created by will and against it, by willingly splitting oneself from the cultural roots, already unhinged in my case, and by exposing oneself to the preconceived stereotypes which, like templates, thoughtlessly define ‘the other’. In the work “No more than vodka & kebabs” these templates, these stickers and labels, are attached to cover faces - the faces of me and my mother.