Asta Petkunaite was born in Lithuania in 1984 to a Russian mother and a Lithuanian father, moving to England at the age of 14. Not knowing the language and unable to communicate, painting became her lifeline, which developed into an intense relationship that survives to this day.
For Asta painting is a form of exorcism, an expression of her oblique vision of the world. Her paintings are subjective journeys into the psyche of her subjects, navigating a path through the narrative of life stories.
Each portrait strips away a façade to reveal something more visceral and raw. The works are ultimately moving, hypnotic, unsettling, using a unique aesthetic language.
Asta arrived in Scotland in 2002 as a self-taught painter, but initially trained and worked as a writer. In 2009, she took the decision to focus entirely on her art.
She first exhibited at Edinburgh’s Red Door Gallery in 2006, going on to work with the art collectives GO REBORN and Noir! in 2009. Her work has been showcased in the Capital’s Axolotl Gallery twice in 2010 as well as at numerous Art Fairs across the country. Her first solo show launched successfully at the beginning of this year. Since, she has taken part in three well received exhibitions and has been confirmed for more in the coming months.
Asta has also worked on a number of private commissions and has published a series of greetings cards which are now sold throughout selected stockists in the capital. She lives and paints in her studio on The Shore in Leith.