Sorrow, Or Roses in Dad’s Memory II

Aistė Kisarauskaitė | 2019 | Undercurrent Gallery, New York

To honor the memory of Vincas Kisarauskas, an acknowledged Lithuanian artist.

When thinking about exhibitions in far-off lands, and especially on other continents, the first question is always “How can we move these works of art?”. Transporting material objects remains a problem.After artist Vincas Kisarauskas’s father (my grandfather) perished in an accident, Kisarauskas created the work "Sorrow, or Roses in Dad’s Memory" (1971, oil on canvas, 122 x 91.5 cm). My father himself died on October 27, 1988, in New York. However, we were only able to bid farewell to his ashes, which arrived in Lithuania after unexpected effort.Now, with an opportunity for me to exhibit work in New York, it is paramount that I honor my father by creating roses in his memory. However, contemporary US regulations forbid importing freshly cut roses or potted rose shrubs. I can place no living roses at the site of his death. No living and material symbol of mourning. Preparing for a regular flight, though, and reading the Ryanair baggage rules, I found that “The carriage of ashes is permitted as cabin baggage, and may be carried in addition to your normal cabin baggage allowance provided that a copy of the death certificate and the cremation certificate accompanies them. You must ensure that the ashes are securely packaged in a suitable container with a screw-top lid and protected against breakage.” As such, this work is positioned to start a discussion about longing and distance. About the longing for those who have dematerialized.

Curator: Aušra TrakšelytėFunded by: Lithuanian Council for Culture, Undercurrent GalleryPhotos by: Laura Zaveckaitė