Colored deities of Genovaitė Jacėnaitė

The Lithuanian Museum of Ethnocosmology holds the Baltic deities – ceramic sculptures donated by the artist Genovaitė Jacėnaitė (1933-2016).

Genovaitė Jacėnaitė was born in Kuršėnai, where she graduated from high school. Although tempted by mathematics, she chose art for her studies; later on she said that this choice was the best in her life. In 1957, G. Jacėnaitė graduated from the Art Institute of Lithuanian (LDI) and worked there (later - Vilnius Academy of Arts) as a lecturer until 1999. Moreover, she was a methodologist of the Art Teachers Retraining Department of the Teachers' Professional Development Center since 1994.

The ceramist was interested in people's characters and motions, so she drew ceramic sculptures and chose them as an object of creation rather than ceramic household items - dishes, vases, dinnerware sets - that were so popular at that time. She engaged in creative activities daily in her spare time and on weekends. In 1957, the ceramist started participating in national exhibitions of applied art and organized 33 personal exhibitions, her artworks are held by Mažeikiai Museum, Lithuanian National Museum of Art and M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum.

The range of the artist's creation is very wide - from the depiction of domestic life scenes to delving into the old Lithuanian culture and its worldview.

At the end of the 20th century, when G. Jacėnaitė became interested in the Baltic mythological world, "idols" appeared in her creation. The ceramicist adapted the images of Christian gods to the Baltic deities, who patronized certain areas of human life and nature.

This exhibition presents colored figurines of ceramic deities.