Kotryna Ula Kiliulyte - Arctic Swell: a simple melody

Kotryna Ula Kiliulyte - Arctic Swell: a simple melody
7th June - 4th August 2024

Arctic Swell: a simple melody is an installation of still and moving image which seeks to sooth solastalgia - anxiety stemming from the man-made climate crisis. The work spans both galleries, one a ‘darkroom’ of video and photographic lightboxes, whilst the ‘lightroom’ comprises of wall based and suspended imagery. Themes of symbiotic relationships are observed through events of various scales: a microscope captures the contraction of mammary gland cells in response to oxytocin; a digitally reconstructed arctic forest is watched by a drone's eye; sauna scenes, foraging wild berries and herbs, other simple rituals of care are set to a soundtrack of lullabies sung to soothe a baby, the planet, the singer themselves. Glow-in-the-dark images provide a microscopic look at arctic lichens, pine forests in the night and snippets of nurturing rituals.

Four chapters of the Arctic Swell video work explore the power of care through digital forest landscapes; a set of instructions for landing in a new planet; and a voiceover addressing more-than-human: “…the world is slowly ending, but we live on timescales different to that”.

Arctic Swell: a simple melody has its genesis in a residency Kotryna undertook in Northern Finland in early 2020, a partnership between Street Level and Northern Centre for Photography in Oulu, which was originally supported by British Council Scotland’s ‘Scotland and Europe’ initiative, and the Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland. The exhibition at GI is the third and culminating chapter in an evolving project which has seen exhibitions at Northern Centre for Photography (Oulu, Finland), and Prospekto Gallery (Vilnius, Lithuania).

Kotryna Ula Kiliulyte is an artist based in Glasgow, Scotland. Originally from Vilnius, Lithuania, she studied at the Glasgow School of Art, completing a BA in Communication Design and a Masters in Fine Art Practice. Kotryna’s work stems from her background in photography, now operating with a wider lens based practice. Often research based, her works draw from different disciplines like biology, history or plant science. In her most recent works Kotryna is focusing on ecology, global warming and solastalgia - the climate related anxiety. Her works have taken different shapes from moving image pieces and installations to small run publications. Most recent exhibitions and screenings include Arctic Swell as part of ‘To Be We Need to Know’ in the Riga Photography Biennial, Latvia 2024; Prospekto Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania 2023; Amateur Botanist at CCA Glasgow, Scotland 2023; Arctic Swell at Northern Photographic Centre, Oulu, Finland 2022; Impossible Colonies at Edinburgh Art Festival, Scotland 2017.

Kotryna has participated in residencies at the Centre Photographique Marseille, France; VU Photo in Quebec, Canada; Northern Photographic Centre Oulu, Finland and Nida Art Colony, Lithuania. In 2023 she participated in the interdisciplinary More than Planet symposium in Oulanka National Park, Finland, at the invitation of Northern Photographic Centre. Kotryna is a visiting lecturer at the Glasgow School of Art in Fine Art Photography and Communication Design departments.

Supported by Creative Scotland and the Lithuanian Culture Institute.