REMIGIJUS TREIGYS
March 18, 2022 / April 13, 2022
Observation of scenery and nothing else in here
Remigijus Treigys is one of those artists whose work is not only inseparable from their personal space, but the disclosure of this relationship usually becomes the central theme of the work or the basis on which subjective visions of the immediate environment are placed. The spots of spaces transferred to photography are close to the author not only physically. Perhaps it is even more important that everything he chooses from the environment resonates emotionally, reflects and gives meaning to the creator's individual states.
R. Treigys repeatedly emphasized that it was the architecture of the Klaipėda region - red brick German houses, the invisible humidity in the air for most of the year, mists and fogs, extended horizons that directly affected his worldview and shaped his artistic expression. It is probably for this reason that he stayed here after getting to know the land that has been burdened by historical vicissitudes. Although it would be inaccurate to say that the historical aspects of the Klaipėda region are extremely important to the author, but in some sense they still act as landmarks, directing the search for personal experiences in photographic work.
It seems that all these years, when leaving for a short time and returning to this city and region, R. Treigys remeasures the familiar horizons, checks the moisture in the air with the camera lens, evaluates the gradual changes in the landscapes of the plains and the lines of trees stretching into the distance. It is obvious that the special Klaipėda city’s melancholy, which cannot be found anywhere else, stimulates his imagination, finds equivalents in his consciousness, and after some time has matured, it finally erupts in a multi-layered photographic language. This is how the visual stories of R. Treigys are found. Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, never indicating a specific place or exact time. Such choice abstracts spaces, objects, levels time, breaks any links with the documentary image basis. Space and time are important here to the extent that they are conducive to the author's thoughts and capable of revealing a personal vision. And although today's means of expression of R. Treigys are changing, in principle his artistic language remains unchanged.
Even after giving up the camera, he uses the same principles - he uses light and chemistry to lay tiles of his thoughts on photographic paper. Sometimes he adds acrylic paints to the materials he uses for many years or leaves subtle touches of graphite pencil on the work. Although his current works completely break away from the real image and acquire a kind of autonomy in relation to reality, they remain with the same "Treigys like" horizons. The author, as before, divides the plane into two parts, forms the distances stretching from edge to edge, and hangs an almost opaque sky above them. All this is no longer reality, but an expression of associations, thoughts and perhaps emotions. It is not that strange that the works are very close to the photographs created by the author so far and looks like a consistent continuation of his work. Although the horizons deepen, the scratches on the sensitive surface of the work thicken, and the black layers are sometimes invisible, there are no references to place or time. Just the scenery and nothing else. - Danguolė Ruškienė