Press release
02/12 – 09/01 2026
On the 2nd of December at 6 PM, the exhibition The Secret Garden of Life by Indrė Svirplytė will open at the VAA gallery ARTIFEX (Gaono St. 1, Vilnius)
In The Secret Garden of Life, the artist constructs immersive mythological realms where surreal, symbolic figures drift through luminous, dreamlike landscapes. Drawing from religious iconography, imagined paradises, final-judgment visions, and fragments of personal dreams, the work meditates on mortality, belief, and ongoing transformation.
At the center of this world stands a monumental Tree of Life, built through the slow, contemplative rhythm of punch-needle embroidery. Around it, radiant fruits and serpentine forms emerge as emblems of growth, healing, and cyclical renewal. Through these tactile, hand-crafted elements, the exhibition traces the secret interwoven worlds that connect all living things, revealing a sacred pulse of life in every loop, knot, and strand of thread.
While questioning established notions of spirituality, the artist turns to the sun as a metaphorical deity—visible, sustaining, and constant—becoming the emotional core of a universe where grotesque dream figures inhabit a threshold between heaven and hell. Through symbolic imagery, the work invites viewers into a quiet sanctuary where myth, memory, and materiality converge, offering space to contemplate renewal, transformation, and the enduring mysteries of existence.
Indrė Svirplytė (Lithuania, °1992) is a multidisciplinary artist and illustrator. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design from the Vilnius Academy of Arts, followed by a Bachelor’s in Illustration and a Master’s in Fine Arts from LUCA School of Arts in Ghent. Svirplytė works across installation and mixed media, often pushing beyond conventional formats. She completed a residency at the Tilburg Textile Museum and has exhibited internationally in Brussels, Paris, Tilburg, and Cape Town. Her first solo exhibition in Vilnius is currently on view. In recent years, she has focused on art tapestries, bringing to life a world of fantastic, sarcastic, slightly unsettling and grotesque imagery.
Opening | 2nd of December (Tuesday) at 6 PM, at the VAA gallery ARTIFEX (Gaono st. 1, Vilnius)
Graphic design – Indrė Svirplytė