Rasa Justaitė-Gecevičienė | TOXIC GARDEN
Until July 10, the solo exhibition “Toxic Garden” by Rasa Justaitė-Gecevičienė will be presented at the VAA gallery ARTIFEX.
A ceramic / living laboratory with modified objects.
// One of the central aspects of my creative practice is the synthesis of biology and art, yet in this project it takes on a more philosophical dimension. Toxic plants in this context are not merely biological objects. Toxicity here is understood not only as a chemical property, but also as a cultural and emotional state.
I constantly work with plaster molds taken from real plants and various objects. I cast plaster molds in order to clearly reveal the plant’s surface and texture. Later, I use clay stamping and casting techniques with different clay bodies, while the formed and multiplied objects transform into new plants and landscapes. This process resembles preservation – as if I were stopping time, preserving surfaces, textures, and traces of growth.
In this creative and technological process, the stories of the plants are equally important – where they came from and how they reached me. Friends brought monstera fruit to me from India, because in our climate these plants do not bear fruit, only impressive leaves. Magnolia fruits arrived from the gardens of Rome. A broccoli that I managed to grow in my own garden (only one!). An artichoke from a grocery store that I kept collecting for so long that people around me started asking for recipes. I had to admit – I was interested only in the form, not in culinary art. I really like that some fruits carry animal names – for example, snake fruit or dragon fruit.
However, by copying and multiplying forms in clay, I no longer create natural plants, but rather their mutations – new organisms born from memory and material. In this way, the garden becomes an artificial ecosystem in which naturalness and artificiality intertwine, and toxicity can be both biological and ideological.
Some ceramic objects are placed into glass cylinders reminiscent of laboratory vessels. They appear like experimental results or dangerous specimens protected from the outside world. It is like an archive for the future – not only about the plants that grow today, but also about humanity’s desire to alter, control, and isolate them.
“Cooper matte,” as well as raku reduction, crackle and metallic effect glazes, “foil saggar,” and the horsehair effect function here as additional elements of risk and unpredictability. During firing, the result is never entirely foreseeable, just like any intervention into a living system. Sensitivity to light also evokes fragility, because even a preserved object remains vulnerable.
“Toxic Garden” becomes a space for reflecting on human responsibility: on beauty that can be dangerous, and on danger that can be highly attractive. It is a garden in which life and poison exist side by side – just as they do in the world we ourselves create.
This project is a continuation of the solo exhibition “MY LAB,” which took place in 2025 at the Bydgoszcz Art Center in Poland.
Rasa Justaitė-Gecevičienė //
Rasa Justaitė-Gecevičienė is a ceramic artist, educator, and associate professor who has been actively contributing to the field of contemporary ceramics for more than three decades. She began her professional journey after graduating in ceramics from the Stepas Žukas School of Applied Arts in 1990 and later continued her studies at the Department of Ceramics at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, where she earned her degree in ceramics in 1995. Since then, she has been closely associated with the Vilnius Academy of Arts, where she teaches ceramic technologies, supervises undergraduate and graduate theses, and for many years headed the Department of Ceramics. Her works have been exhibited in numerous international exhibitions, biennials, and symposiums across Europe and Asia, while her solo exhibitions have been presented both in Lithuania and abroad. Through her artistic practice, she explores natural forms, processes of growth, and the relationship between humans and living systems, bringing together themes of biology, technology, and art. Using moulds taken from real plants, experimental firing techniques, and combinations of ceramics with other materials, she creates distinctive spatial landscapes in which memory, transformation, and reflections on the fragile balance between nature and human activity intertwine. Her work has received significant national and international recognition.
Guided Tours with the Artist:
June 20 (Saturday), 2:00 PM
July 10 (Friday), 4:00 PM
Admission to the exhibition is free. The exhibition will be open for visitors from June 19 from 12:00 PM.
