Luminous art installation 'Peaks'

In my work, I usually explore themes of sustainability, femininity, birds and other aesthetic objects. However, sometimes I have to face challenges that are not typical and not entirely familiar to me. One of them is the art installation ‘Peaks’, which celebrates the 20th anniversary of the national development institution Investment and Business Guarantees (INVEGA). Finance is the key theme of this project. As soon as I heard this, many questions came to mind – how to portray such an abstract, broad topic with numbers and events in an artistic, interesting and aesthetic way? Moreover, it needed to reflect the growth of finance, the people who worked in business, the evolution of financial instruments to help businesses grow and the businesses themselves.

This is where the real interest of an artist’s life is revealed – the ability to combine the most unexpected elements – economics and art – into a single work of art. But I like a challenge, and when I found myself in a difficult situation, I immediately started generating ideas in my head. After studying a lot of information about INVEGA’s activities and history, it gradually became clear what kind of artwork I would create. At the same time, I began to realise that ‘Peaks’ was going to be not only one of the most complex projects, but also one of the biggest. It soon became clear that I was not wrong.The 21 mountains represent the company’s entire year of operation – each peak representing the amount of funding applied that year, and the metal plants with mirror tops representing the businesses that received funding. The installation shows not only the history and development of the company itself, but also the dependence of Lithuanian businesses, the scale of investment and the impact it has had on improving the country’s economy.

I have chosen to depict the form of the installation as a cornucopia – a symbol of wealth and prosperity. This idea came from looking at the company logo, a fragment of which became the main form. It was also important that the large-scale installation, which was displayed next to the White Bridge, should not obscure the cityscape of Vilnius, but at the same time be clearly visible from all sides. After three months of planning, discussions, sketching and vision development, it was time to realise the ‘Peaks’. Working with a team of fifteen people, the largest project of my career – 50 m long, 100 m wide and covering an area of 5,000 square metres – has grown. We used aluminium profiles to form the tops, which were spaced every 5 metres. To create a bright and luminous installation, we placed one kilometre of LED tape in the profiles. In order not to damage the natural cover, we mounted the strips on metal plates. When the tops had taken shape, we started to spike the metal rods. In total, we used 46,000 pieces, which swayed in the wind and allowed people to walk through them and see the work from all sides. ‘Peaks’ looked most spectacular at night – the installation glowed so brightly that it could even be seen through an aeroplane window. The project received a lot of attention and was included in the programme of the Vilnius Light Festival.