BIO

zen-ritaDraw/draught – as well as being about making marks and pictures – is about: inhaling, drinking, pulling, enticing, attracting, taking…in. And out: planning, layout, designing, composing, framing. (Draught) Draft – to write.

 

A practicing artist since 1986, Rita Lazauskas has over twenty years experience working in public galleries as a curator and in the development and presentation of public programs, workshops and guided tours.

Rita works predominantly in drawing and painting and has taken a keen interest in international drawing research and education trends. For the last 15 years her arts practice has been primarily based on observational drawing.

When travelling the drawings record the landscape, city monuments or architecture, seaside holidays in Australia or travel abroad to Lithuania, Italy, Spain, Portugal, UK and Morocco.

But more often than not, the drawings are based on the objects on hand at home – a bevy of old toys and junk, including some iconic symbols of western culture such as the ‘Barbie’ doll and other familiar popular culture characters.

Amongst the jumble of debris and objects on the desktop, relationships are forged, narratives abound. Discarded toys, each with their own attributes and imperfections, become metaphor for the human condition.

“My arts practice focusses on the medium of drawing, while exploring various manifestations of visual narrative and responding to my place and experience. Drawing leads to new techniques, ideas and visual language. It assists with critical thinking. The drawing process is, in itself, investigative. An exploration of the word reveals this nature.”

Rita lives and works between Beechworth, Australia and Marrakech, Morocco..

All works are unframed works on paper – medium and size are listed.
CONTACT the artist

image: Zen Exercise (a week at home), charcoal on paper, 1.8m diameter, 114 panels